Sora, Daughter of Tyrus
by DarthBiber
Summary: When her father is killed in the assault on the Wraith Hive ship, Sora utilizes the lessons he taught her and seeks revenge. Fortunately, she quickly realizes the true culprits behind the tragedy, and takes the only course of action left to her. AU from S1/11, the Eye; no Ships as of yet
1. Chapter 1: Underground

**Sora, Daughter of Tyrus**

**AN:** I always felt Sora, the young redheaded Genii soldier, was intended for a larger purpose. Stargate (disregarding SGU) has always drawn a strict line between good and bad, and the bad usually look like the Wraith or talk like Hathor. The lovely Ms. Chambers visibly and positively stands out from the rest of the Genii, and has, on many occasions, expressed her displeasure with their tactics.

This is my tribute to her, and my take on her character.

Be warned, however. For those of you who have yet to watch the first season (of which, I suspect, there are few to none), there will be spoilers. Those of you who did will most likely recognize the plot of the first chapter. I will not deviate from the series until chapter two. Chapter one sets up Sora's character, her motivations and her history, and is therefore quite light on dialogue and action. Both will increase as the story progresses.

Lastly, and most importantly, you should know that I wrote this story mostly to practice writing a strong female character for a different story. As such, I am grateful for any hints, praise and/or criticism you have for me. Also, it means that I do not yet know for how long I am going to continue the story. I will bring it to an end, but it might come rather suddenly.

Now, however, I am proud to present:

**Chapter 1: Underground**

From the secrecy of the bushes, Sora and her father watched as the Stargate activated and four humans stepped out. Joyfully, she recognized the lone female in the group of travellers as Teyla, the leader of the Athosians, and a dear friend of hers. On many occasions, she had enjoyed talking to the strong woman, either when she had visited Athos to listen to new rumours regarding the Wraith or when Teyla had come to trade with the Genii people.

Not even her father knew that she looked up to the young female warrior as a role model. Leading her people to survive against the Wraith, especially without the Genii's underground bunkers, was a great achievement, but doing so while still maintaining a will to fight and the hope for a better future was what really impressed Sora. More then once, she had wished she could confide in Teyla, tell her of the legacy of the Genii and their plans, to give her hope and ask for her advice.

She waited patiently as her father radioed ahead to let the others know of their guests, before allowing a small smile to wash over her soft features. As one of the Genii's best infiltrators, second only to her own father, the chief military commander of the Genii, it was a look she had worn often when dealing with peoples from all over the galaxy. This time, however, she did not have to force or fake it.

To Sora's surprise, Teyla had changed a lot since their last meeting just over a year ago. Where before, her clothing had been well tailored, but primitive, made from obviously hand webbed fabrics, she now wore a uniform like that of her new companions, made from materials not much different from what the Genii preferred underground. It was cut to allow a maximum range of motion and featured a wide variety of pockets. The most astonishing change, however, was the weapon Teyla now carried. From the looks of it, it was a fully automated gun, and greatly different from the spears and bows the Athosians were able to create and use. Obviously, her three companions were from a culture at least as technologically advanced as the Genii themselves.

To Sora's concern, however, non of the Genii spies, including herself, had ever found any indication of such a society, at least until they had reduced their off-world activities to a minimum. The Wraith activity had spiked unexpectedly a few weeks ago, so, rather then risking their agents falling into enemy hands and being tortured for information, they had decided to fall back and concentrate on their bomb for the rest of the month.

Even though most of their off-world agents did not specialize in nuclear sciences, they had been extensively trained, technologically, in case they ever came across and had to assess alien technology. Sora and her father had specialized in Wraith technology, crowning their work in an interface to connect their screens and computers to a captured portable storage device. Despite being busy in her laboratory, Sora often yearned for the thrill of field work. She was not made to be a warrior.

Smoothing down her long, simple gown one last time to make sure it covered the uniform she wore underneath, she finally followed her father out into the field to meet the visitors.

"Teyla Emmagan", her father greeted their old friend, with Sora following close behind on his right.

She listened patiently as Teyla introduced her companions and smiled charmingly, while her father introduced her. Major, Doctor and Lieutenant certainly were not Athosian titles, she mused meanwhile. They did indicate a fixed social structure, though, possibly even a military command structure. To the information gatherer, the strangers became more intruding by the minute.

"You must be very proud." The Major was the first of the strangers to speak. From the lack of surprise from the others, Sora concluded that that was the norm, and thereby identified him as the leader.

"She is betrothed." her father answered instantly, a small scowl on his face. Sora just barley repressed her own, both because of her father's over-protectiveness and his choice for her future husband. Lamil certainly had a bright future ahead of him among the Genii, but even though he had enlisted with the military, as all Genii were, he was a politician and not a warrior. He had earned his rank through his words and not through his deeds. Once upon a time, her father had taught her to hold these people in contempt, now he expected her to bear such a man's children.

Amongst the Athosians, one of the first things Teyla had done after taking over as leader of her people had been to empower the woman to make her own decision. About half of the planets the Genii had contact with had similar laws or traditions, while the other half gave the father the sole right to choose his daughter's husband. Technologically, the Genii were advanced, but oftentimes, Sora felt their society was still sorely lacking. For now, however, the defeat of the Wraith had to be their priority, and the Genii could not afford to be divided by social struggles.

Major Sheppard, meanwhile, had been quick to reassure her father of his noble intentions.

"They have come to trade for a share of your crops." Teyla skillfully shifted the conversation.

Sora frowned, eyeing the four visitors anew. "Yet you bring weapons." The way from the Stargate was not far, and there would be no danger this close to their settlement, unless of course the Wraith attacked. Then, the small, hand held guns would hardly make a difference.

"Only to defend ourselves." Lieutenant Ford reassured her. Sora took that to mean that they simply did not know the Genii, yet. Were they not trying to hide themselves, Sora suspected her own people would travel similarly equipped.

Her father, meanwhile, had a different concern. "You dress as they do of your own accord?"

Teyla seemed confused. "Of course. Why?"

"He wants to know if you work with us, or for us." Her companion, Major Sheppard, explained. Sora smiled slightly. Obviously, the man had experience in gathering intelligence. The question, while rather abruptly placed, was subtle enough. It should have at least given most people pause, to give them time to think of its true purpose.

Her father listened patiently while Teyla assured them of her new friends' character, before coming to a decision. "We will take you to see Cowen." Signalling her, he sent Sora ahead to lead the group away from him. He would now, Sora suspected, radio ahead again to let the others know to prepare for visitors.

The initial negotiation had gone well enough. Rather then pretending to be primitive, the strangers had been quick to offer advanced medicine, capable of curing infections and various diseases that were still out of reach even for the Genii. Had they actually been as primitive as they claimed to be, Sora had no doubt that Cowen would have gladly accepted the offer, and would have felt he had made a good deal.

Their underground bunkers provided protection against the snow and the cold of winter, however, and even could be heated in large parts. To the Genii, while useful, the medicine was not crucial enough to give away their food stock. To many of their workers would have to be removed from their research to replenish their supplies, if they were to agree.

Chief Cowen was a politician, however. At first, Sora had been confused when he steered the conversation towards the clearing of land. With sufficient amounts of explosives, they were easily able to clear large areas of it. Then, as the visitors reacted, Sora finally understood his true genius.

Obviously, the strangers possessed advanced chemical knowledge. Most likely, they also had developed more potent explosives then the simple gun powder compounds the Genii themselves used. Maybe, if they were truly lucky, they would be small and yet powerful enough to finally super-critically compress their uranium.

To her embarrassment, Sora eventually became aware of her mouth standing open when the strangers confirmed their knowledge of such a device. Lieutenant Ford handed them a small, soft pack of something, that they inspected for a while, before demonstrating its destructive powers outside.

"Fire in the hole." What a curious expression, she thought amused, moments before the device exploded in a huge ball of fire.

Observing from about ten paces away, Sora felt a momentary spike of pain when the shock wave hit them, despite covering her ears. Amazed, she realized that the small package had completely obliterated the trunk and big parts of the ground around it. From the look on Chief Cowen's face, he would currently gladly trade the firstborn sons of the Genii for a sufficient amount of the substance. With it, the completion of their bombs and the end of the Wraith would be a lot closer then they had ever suspected or even dared to hope.

"It is called C4." Lieutenant Ford explained.

"If you can supply us with a sufficient quantity of C4, we will supply you with the crop you require." Cowen promised. Sora had expected no less.

"So this instead of the medicine." the Major clarified.

Much to Sora's surprise, Cowen disagreed. "As well as the medicine." Obviously, the leader of the Genii judged the strangers' need for food quite a bit higher then Sora herself did.

"Really?" Sheppard appeared even more surprised then she was. "That wasn't impressive enough?"

Cowen nodded self-confidently. "It is you who are in need." He reminded the other, rather gently, Sora thought. Unwillingly, her thoughts strayed back to her betrothed. One day, Lamil hoped to inherit Cowen's position and lead the Genii. Compared to the titan standing before her now, however, who was not only a formidable fighter and tactician, but also probably the most cunning man Sora had ever met, Lamil simply fell short. The day Cowen died would be a day that would set the Genii cause back significantly.

When the Major announced that he would have to discuss the trade with his people, first, Cowen quickly invited them to a harvest ceremony later that day. There had not been one planned, yet, of course, but the chance to find out more about this new player was invaluable. Even then, Sora had to bite back a smile when she overheard the rather cautious enthusiasm of their four visitors.

The festival was a success. Even though they could not talk true science without revealing themselves, Sora enjoyed the chance to catch up with Teyla. In the process and with liberal help of distilled tapa bean schnaps, she also found out that all of Taylor's tribe had allied themselves with the strangers, who were a stranded expedition from a far away world that had come here through the Stargate.

Sora was curious how they could have stranded when they could obviously still use the Stargate, but held back the question. From there, it would be rather easy to infer that she knew far more about this than she should. She did manage to find out a number of worlds the group had recently visited, however, and made a mental note to return there, soon. Perhaps that way she would be able to find out more about the strangers.

She had been surprised when Chief Cowen had suddenly excused himself, citing a dispute that he had to settle.

"Everything all right?" She had followed her father outside and listened in as the two men talked, while rapidly approaching the nearest hatch to their bunker. In this small group, at least, she would be able to talk relatively freely, regardless of her gender.

"The two others have returned, and have stumbled across entry hatch four. They are now being held underground, but I must find out what they know and decide on our course of action." Cowen explained.

Sora frowned. Ultimately, the decision on how to proceed would be his, and she was glad. She could not imagine making it herself, knowing that the future of the galaxy might ride on it. "We must get this C4." Tyrus interjected. "At this point, everything else is secondary."

Cowen nodded. "From what we have seen, it might be the missing component we have been searching for. For now, keep the other two here, and indoors. I will likely sent for them, soon."

"Arm the men you send." Sora recommended as they approached a barn on the edge of their village. "Their weapons look formidable, especially after we have seen what their explosives can do. We might have to resort to force."

With a last nod, the Chief entered the building, leaving father and daughter to return to their careful act.

By the time they returned, Teyla and the last stranger had already picked up on the change, and were getting ready to leave. Looking around, Sora could easily understand their confusion. Where before, the Genii had carelessly celebrated with music and plenty of alcohol, they were now sitting quietly, talking in hush whispers and staring at the two visitors. The silence was oppressive.

Hurrying closer, her father reacted first. "No one must leave. It is not safe."

Knowing that they would require some form of explanation, Sora added: "There is a Wraith ship in the area."

It was a simple, believable lie to anybody living in Pegasus galaxy. It had the distinct disadvantage, however, that it would be discovered as such within minutes. The Wraith normally did not wait long before harvesting their herds. Sora just prayed that Cowen would sent reinforcements before the two became too sceptical.

Lieutenant Ford was, unfortunately, instantly so. "Wraith? Are you serious?"

Teyla, meanwhile, had hurried to pick up her vest. "We must warn our friends", she stated, much to Sora's surprise. One did not go and meet the Wraith head on. Perhaps Sora had seriously underestimated the capabilities of their weapons.

"You will draw them to us. Everyone must stay indoors." she argued and was relieved that the two, although they obviously disagreed to with her assessment, agreed to stay inside.

She was even more relieved when reinforcements arrived minutes later, and her father's radio beeped. Outnumbered eight to two, with weapons pointed at them, the two visitors did not put up a fight, or even questioned the events much.

Inside the bunker, the other two prisoners were already waiting. Sora was taken off guard when, the moment they were reunited, the four began to banter rather easily. Their chances of survival had not improved the slightest, in her opinion, yet, they seemed to have picked up new hope. For a moment, Sora was jealous. Obviously, the quartette trusted each other explicitly, while Sora had always worked in solitude.

"The secrecy of who and what we are is our only defence against the Wraith." Cowen finished his explanation. "One day, all that will change."

"D'you think you can do that with an atomic bomb." McKay stated, rather sceptically, causing all eyes to turn to him. So far, the fourth member of the team had been rather silent. Now, he had not only revealed the Genii's biggest secret, but also spoke about the most powerful weapon Sora had ever seen or heard of with a casual familiarity.

She listened halfheartedly as the group discussed the mechanics of their bomb. She was not an expert, having specialized in alien technology, data recovery and infiltration. In the end, however, even she was impressed by McKay's obvious knowledge in the area. From the few sentences she understood during the tour and the following meal, she suspected that he knew more about the process then any one of their scientists - and maybe even all of them together – did.

"With your help, before the next culling, we plan to vaporize the Wraith as they sleep."

When the conversation finally came to their attack plan, Sora perked up. This was her area of expertise. She had spent countless hours with Wraith technology, at first by analyzing the components of the Dart they had shot down and eventually even by gaining access to an abandoned Wraith laboratory. Her next step would be to actually attempt to infiltrate a Hive ship or another active Wraith facility.

"What exactly is your plan?" Major Sheppard questioned cautiously, but with obvious interest.

Cowen was happy to explain. "We intend to take advantage of their over-convidence. That is their weakness."

When Sheppard asked for specification, Sora obliged. "They hibernate between cullings aboard their great ships, sometimes for centuries at a time." It had been her greatest discovery, found in a log on a long abandoned facility on the other side of the galaxy. Apparently, that was where the Wraith had developed their stasis technology after their war with the Ancestors had ended. For decades afterwards, various factions had battled each other for the suddenly limited food supply, before a scientist had developed the concept of hibernation. Now, each faction had a turn and a specific area and time they were allowed to cull. Size and time depended on their numbers and status after their civil war.

"There are always Wraith who watch over the sleepers, but they're small in number." her father continued for her.

"Small enough to be overpowered." Cowen specified.

"We intend to sneak aboard their ships with our new weapons." Tyrus never got to finish, however, as Teyla interrupted him.

"That may no longer be possible."

For the next minutes, Sora listened in horror as their carefully laid-out plans crumbled apart. The Wraith were coming. Within weeks, most likely, a ship would attack them from space, would likely track the radiation to their underground complex, and would completely wipe out the Genii in retaliation.

Sora certainly emphasized with Cowen when he shouted the Major down. The strangers had doomed their society and countless others in one unthinking act. Moments later, however, she had to admit that, had their positions been reversed and Genii been taken, she would have most likely attempted a rescue operation herself, no matter the long term costs.

When the two leaders took their discussion outside, however, Doctor McKay instantly gave her new hope. Rather arrogantly, he boasted of his scientific expertise, and the advances he could bring to their program. Within the day, while his two colleagues returned to inform their superiors, McKay made good on his promise and brought their project further along than their scientists had managed in years.

More important for Sora personally, however, was that she got a chance to talk to Teyla. To her great relief, the older woman did not hold any resentment against the Genii, even though she expressed a regret that Sora and her people had not trusted her enough to let her help. Sora wished she could have reassured her role model, but with her father present as well, she did not dare to get too emotional.

As she watched the group gear up to infiltrate the hive they had picked, Sora could not help but feel jealous. She had trained her whole life for this mission, ever since her mother died and her father had militarized her upbringing. To her, being left behind now was almost an insult, as if they doubted her skills.

"I should be going with you." She complained, both to her father and the Chief.

It was one of their new allies, Ford, however, that answered first. "There is a good chance we might end up in a firefight."

Sora gasped at his presumption, and glowered at the man angrily. She had earned her spot amongst the Genii not by cowering in their bunkers, but by being the tip of their spear, thrust into the heart of their enemies.

Before she could work work up her anger to retort, however, Cowen spoke for her. "Sora is a skilled fighter and an expert marksman, Lieutenant Ford. Still, she must stay here", he held her eyes for a moment," to carry on if we don't come back."

Sora frowned again, but finally nodded. She had understood the hidden message, and although she did not like it, she would obey. Whatever Cowen wanted her to do was obviously a more important application of her skills.

As long as even one Genii still lived, their fight against the Wraith would continue. As a people, they had dedicated their existence to rid the Galaxy of its greatest plague. While she would certainly be able to support that effort, the importance of the mission meant that every fighter was needed. Sora had every confidence they would succeed, however. After all, most of what she had learnt, she had learnt from her father.

After confirming that the craft had left through the Stargate, Sora wasted no time to return to the bunker. In the topmost drawer of the Cowen's desk she found a note, folded once through the short side. Unfolding it, she found the words flowing across the long side of the page.

Folding the paper into thirds along the long side, she revealed the real message hidden within the nonsense. It was a simple security measure, but since nobody could simply search the office, it would do to prevent anybody from accidentally reading it.

_Sora,_

_The information and the weapons of the strangers are essential for the defeat of the Wraith, but they have proven that they can not be trusted with the responsibility. Their callous, thoughtless actions have almost cost us everything._

_Take twenty men, arm then, and have them wait for us in hiding around the landing side. For the good of the Genii, we must seize control of them, to understand them and use them for our own goals._

_The Genii depend on you._

_Cowen_

Sora starred at the note for several long moments. While the strangers' rescue mission had obviously gone wrong, Sora would not have called it callous. Even then, however, the Genii could use any ally against the Wraith and these strangers had obviously had some success, already.

What worried Sora the most, however, was the sudden shift in tactics. So far, the Genii had always fought for all humans in the galaxy, even though some had always planned to claim a superior status after the Wraith were defeated. Her own father had always been a more moderate voice, who simply wished for peace and freedom for all. Sora had adopted his outlook in life, and Chief Cowen had always seemed like their ally on the matter.

Now, however, Cowen's goals had obviously shifted. In his note, he had clearly stated that he fought for the Genii alone. Everybody else, including the millions of innocent farmers, hunters and traders on other world, were no more then a shield he probably intended to sacrifice whenever and however he saw fit.

Sora sat down in the office's single chair, turned the note over, unfolded it, refolded it, and read it again. When she still did not find a second, even more hidden message, she sighed heavily. There was no doubt to the authenticity of the note, unfortunately. She recognized the handwriting, and Cowen himself had sent her here to read it.

She should have seen it coming, really, given how angry he had been at their visitors. Unfortunately, short of completely betraying her people and probably having her father executed for treason in her stead, she had no choice but to comply.

She made sure the men were completely hidden away and therefore arrived just at the moment the ship appeared from thin air and touched down on the ground, two guards by her side. She figured the two would not raise any questions. After all, who knew what happened out there, and if any Wraith had followed them back.

When the strike team exited the craft, Sora tried to catch Cowen's eyes. For several moments, he evaded her, before she noticed the team was incomplete. "Where is my father?"

Apparently, Cowen could no longer stand to evade her. He look her directly in the eyes, and she could see his sorrow there. "He did not survive."

Sora was aghast. Her father was too good to be the only one struck down, and not noble enough to voluntarily stay behind if anything went wrong. "How? What happened?"

Cowen looked grim. "I think we should find out." His eyes swept over the tree line, probably searching for their men, so Sora gave a small, barely noticeable nod to confirm their presence. Immediately, he called out. "Take aim!"

The Genii burst out of the woods, brandishing their weapons and surrounding the visitors. Their leader, Sheppard, spoke up first. "Cowen, I thought we were just learning to get along."

Cowen turned to Teyla instead. "She killed Tyrus."

Sora frowned. She had known Teyla for a long time, and she could not believe she would thoughtlessly betrayed them. Indeed, the lone female visitor denied the accusation vehemently.

"By leaving him to die, you may just as well have killed him yourself." Cowen argued.

Teyla frowned at him. "He shot the man we tried to save."

Sora frowned as well. While she could certainly understand why her father would not want to rescue anybody on the ship, firing his weapon would surely have given away their position. It did not seem like a mistake her father would make. In any case, he had often taught her that sacrifices might be necessary, and that the mission had to come first.

Apparently, Cowen disagreed. "It was a mistake to try and save anyone. It jeopardized the mission." He reached into his pocket and took out the Wraith data device. "We will keep this intelligence information."

Sora mustered the Chief. He really wanted to completely go back on their agreement and burn any bridges between the two most powerful enemies of the Wraith. To her, it seemed like the worst decision he could have made.

Sheppard agreed with her silent assessment. "You're the one making a mistake."

"And your ship, and whatever quantities of C4 you have in your possession." The Genii leader continued, as if uninterrupted.

"That is all you ever intended. To use us." Despite the events of the day, Sora found herself agreeing with Teyla, and even suspected that her father would as well.

"This is what your father died for? In the name of people who would lie and steal from those they would call friends?" During her musings, she had apparently missed quiet a bit of the conversation. Now, Teyla was staring back at her, obviously waiting for an answer.

Sora kept her gun up as she contemplated her options. Contrary to before, her father would no longer bear the brunt of their betrayal. Even if she changed sides, however, they would sill be outnumbered significantly, and, while Cowen might actually let the others go, she doubted he would be as lenient with her.

Before she could come to a decision, Sheppard acted. "Well, I lied, too. Jumpers Two and Three, execute."

As two more spaceships appeared overhead, Sora cursed her indecision. Changing sides now would simply mean that neither side trusted her. She would simply appear to follow the stronger side, to hide in their shadow and avoid conflict.

"You didn't really think we had one ship, did you?" Sheppard mocked Cowen. "Tell your people to get back and nobody gets hurt."

Sora hid a smile. Cowen really accepted that they would have a single ship? Judging by its design, it was obviously from the Ancestors, so they had most likely found an outpost of theirs, somewhere the Wraith had never searched. Any outpost would hold more then one ship, if for no other reason then to provide an alternative when one is damaged.

Within minutes, the strangers had left, and Sora stayed behind to watch Cowen rage.

"These damn, ruthless liars. Get me Kolya here. The Genii will not stand for this insult. I want all our agents deployed to find them."

"Cowen." Sora began hesitantly. "Do you really think that is wise? We would be devoting significant resources away from our main goal."

"Our main goal is to obtain that data device, and to get revenge for this insult to our people."

"Our main goal is the defeat of the Wraith, and while we may never again be friends, that goal does unite us and them." Sora argued.

"Leave!" Cowen barked into the group of guards, and suddenly Sora understood how greatly she had misjudged the situation. Their leader was not thinking rationally, but instead allowed his anger to guide him.

"Cowen, I know you are furious, but you must not loose track of the bigger picture."

"Do not forget your station, woman!" Cowen was almost screaming by then. "They just murdered your father, and you are standing here, defending them. Be glad I suspect you are not thinking straight, or I would have you executed as a traitor to the Genii."

Before she had a chance to retort, another Genii entered the field. Sora knew the man, although mostly by reputation. Acastus Kolya was a successful military leader, with a keen grasp on tactics and the ability to alter his plans on the fly. More importantly, however, he was absolutely ruthless, and the most high ranking supporter of the isolationist movement.

"Kolya. Very good. The strangers have attacked us, as you predicted. I am hereby promoting you to Commander of the Genii forces. I want you to find out where they are operating from, and plan a counterattack. You have your pick of men to form a strike force. Train them in the ways of the Ancestor. The enemy was using their technology. I want their supplies and their C4, and I want them humiliated. Have them crawl back into whatever hole they came from."

Sora knew, that Kolya had just profited from her father's death, inheriting a position she had often felt her father groomed her to take up, some day. Still, this time, she did not hesitate. "Commander, I would like to volunteer for the task force. They killed my father, and it should be my hand that makes them pay for it."

For a moment, Cowen continued to frown at her, as if doubting her motives, before, slowly, a small, respectful and self-satisfied smile crept onto his face.

In her father's memorie, Sora planned to wipe it off.


	2. Chapter 2: The Storm

**Chapter 2: ****The Storm**

Officially, the reason Sora and her father owned the small barn house on the surface was to welcome any visitors they might have from off-world. They were, after all, responsible for making and maintaining most of the Genii's interstellar contacts.

More often, however, the pair liked to use the house as their own personal retreat, watching as the twin moons of Genii Prime rose over the setting sun. For that purpose, they had a small exit hatch located on their roof, leading to two small indentures in the thick moss to allow comfortable seating.

Her father had always insisted that she would be the one to sit in the left chair, Sora remembered, claiming that the right one was nearer to the hatch and therefore easier to reach. She always knew better, though. Miratol, the closer of the two moons, usually rose to the left of the house, and Sora adored its soft, blue shimmering light. Had her father claimed the right chair, she would have had trouble seeing it past his larger frame.

As she sat in her chair now, watching Miratol make its way across the sky and finally descend past the horizon again a few minutes past midnight, she missed her father more then ever before. For the first time, she felt that she really understood that he was forever gone, and suddenly, despite their differences, despite how often they had argued and despite how often she had cursed his name, she really appreciated all he had done for her.

Sighing heavily, she climbed up and onto the roof, laying down there and holding on to a bar he had installed there for her to hold on when she was still a child, shortly after her mother had died of cancer. Ever since then, he had become overzealous in looking after her.

When her weight finally settled onto the soft plants inhabiting the roof, she heard a low, strange rustle underneath her back. Curiously, she knelt backwards on her seat and began to search the roof.

Hidden beneath two of the thick moss plates that protected the house from the rain was a single piece of paper, carefully folded to protect its content. From the looks of it, it could not be more then a day old.

She recognized her father's handwriting immediately, and only needed moments to work out the code he had used for the letter. The two of them had developed it together, many years ago, and, to the best of her knowledge, never shared it with anyone.

_My dearest Sora, _

_If everything went as planned, I will no longer be alive by the time you read this letter. Kolya returned from an off-world trip two nights ago, and brought with him a new drug that is supposed to stop the Wraith from feeding on whoever is injected with it. They are still investigating the origin, but, against my objections, they have decided to test the chemical themselves._

_For you to understand what happened next, I must first inform you of the developments of the last weeks. As you know, Kolya is an ambitious bastard, but recently, he has managed to gain Cowen's ear. I fear our chief no longer fights for the good of everyone, but instead aims to broaden his influence as the leader of the Genii, who single-handedly defeated the Wraith._

_I continued to protest the testing of the new drug, fearing for the poor comrade who would most likely loose his life in the process, either to the chemical or to the Wraith. The moment Kolya suggested that I do it myself instead, then, I knew I had been tricked. To back out would make me a coward, unable to lead the people, and going through with it would open up my position rather violently._

_This was a coup, my little love, that Kolya and Cowen carefully planned to overthrow me as the head of our military forces. The fact that they have no way to actually know the results of the test, unless I miraculously make it back, should be enough proof even for the biggest skeptic._

_I hate the thought of leaving you behind like this, but I know I have raised a smart and confident young woman, and I could not be more proud of you. With my sacrifice, I hope to keep your honour intact, so that one day, you might take the position that was always to be yours. It will be your duty to free this galaxy from the influence of the Wraith and to steer our people back on the right track._

_You must always allow your honour to guide you. Never go back on your ideals._

_I love you, and may the Ancestors watch over you, _

_Your Father_

Sora felt the tears freely slide down her face as she read and reread the letter countless of times, before a strange calm filled her. Belatedly, she realized that her left hand, which had not been holding the letter, was bloody from where her nails had dug into her skin.

When she finally stood back up, the sun rose again, bathing the land in a pale orange light. Her father had been murdered by the man they had both trusted more then anyone else in the world, the man who they had pledged their service to, and who had in return vowed to free them from the Wraith. Sora would make sure her fathers last wish and his biggest dream would be fulfilled.

It took Commander Kolya merely one week to identify the strangers' base of operation. The Hoffans, who had developed the drug used in the ploy to kill her father, had gladly told the story of advanced strangers, who had come from a distant world and taken possession of the legendary city of the Ancestors. Apparently, they had advanced the Hoffan drug as much as they had helped the Genii with their weapon, but had refused to help in mass production. Again, Kolya claimed, they had shied away from the conflict with the Wraith, and thereby had allowed them to continue to exist.

Sora could certainly relate to the strangers' decision. While widespread distribution of the drug might eventually kill the Wraith, the expected loss of life, both short term due to the side effects of the compound, and long term, when the Wraith began to wipe out those who had survived the treatment, were horrifying.

What surprised Sora, however, was the fact that they claimed to live in the legendary city of the Ancients. While the gate address had been passed down through the generations on many planets, nobody had ever managed to successfully establish contact. Most had assumed the city to be destroyed by the Wraith, or sealed forever.

If the strangers had really accessed the city, they were either much more advanced then Sora had previously estimated them to be, or had some kind of relation to the Ancestors. Either way, there was more to them that met the eye. In any case, however, the Hoffans had warned Kolya against an assault, claiming that anybody passing through the Stargate without the proper code would be instantly struck down by the shield of the Ancestors, even though one could now achieve a lock after dialing.

Sora did not doubt their locations, however. Plenty of the technology the strangers had used had clearly been designed by the Ancestors, and retrospectively, she knew the only place that would house so many of the artifacts after tens of thousands of years of Wraith domination would be the lost city.

She herself, meanwhile, had instead travelled to the planet of the youths, as Teyla had called it. Their leader, Keras, had spoken highly of the team, describing them as open, friendly and quick to help. Sora could not help but shake the feeling that there was something they were not telling her, however, especially since neither him nor Teyla had ever told her why the Wraith had not come to the planet for so long. Teyla had simply called it a happy accident. In the end, however, she did not care for their secret.

Two weeks later, Kolya's efforts paid of completely. One of his newly acquired contacts, Smeadon, the leader of the Manerians, had informed Cowen that the strangers had pressured his people into granting them sanctuary while they temporarily evacuated their city. To him, the threats they had issued against him had been the final push he needed to support the Genii over the Atlanteans.

"Girl, come here." Kolya growled at her the moment he stepped back into the barracks from his meeting with their Chief. "Cowen has ordered us to prepare for an invasion of Atlantis." Sora nodded, having expected the order. She knew Kolya did not like her, most likely because she was a constant threat to his position. While the Genii did not inherit postings based on family alone, her father had made a lot of important friends and contacts, and every one of them knew that she was as good as he had been. Even Cowen, apparently, felt some guilt over what he had done. One of his first acts after he had instated Kolya was to promote her to be Kolya's second in command.

While she was thankful for the freedom the position allowed her, she loathed working for the two men responsible for her father's death. For now, she would continue, but only until she had the chance to truly break free.

"You will accompany me to Manara, where we will assess the status of the evacuation and gather any intel we might need to penetrate the city's protections." Kolya continued impassionately. "From our information, the evacuation will be completed within the hour. As soon as it is, we will return here to launch an attack."

Sora came to attention. "Yes Commander."

He nodded, seemingly satisfied. "As soon as we enter the city, we will secure any explosives we can find. Secondary objectives are their medicine and ships, as well as any targets of opportunity. All remaining Atlanteans are to be treated as hostile. Inform the men to prepare, then meet me at the gate."

"Commander," Sora began hesitantly, "any hostages we take might be of use. We do not know the layout of the city. Keeping a guide will speed the mission up considerably."

Of course, more importantly, she did not want to weaken any enemies of the Wraith, especially since she was planning on finding a new camp to fight for.

Kolya waved his hand, dismissively. "Something will work out. Inform the men, now."

Sora hastily sped off, not willing to provoke the man further. While she believed that she might be able to hold her own against him with any weapon he might choose, she was currently his political inferior. The strike force, about fifteen men altogether, chosen to be both available and expendable, had already assembled in the barracks. Neither had family, so they spent most of their days, and all of their nights in together.

As she informed them of the plan, she attached her gun holster to her hip. Most of the other men carried large automated rifles, intended to overpower the enemy with superior firepower. Herself and Kolya, as the two commanding officers, had opted instead to have their hands free, especially since both of them excelled in unarmed combat. The only other exception was Ladon, their chief science officer, and the only one of them that had only completed the basic training all Genii were required to attend.

After a few moments of contemplation, she additionally slipped her father's knife into her uniform, noting that the handle was still slightly loose after she had manipulated it. Nobody would pay any heed to the weapon, however, and it was essential to her plan.

When they arrived at Manara, one of Smeadons security guards was waiting for them by the gate. The politician had managed to lure their prey away from the public eye and into a council chamber, where he was currently entertaining him. Apparently, Sora noted as they arrived, they had already managed to get a nice serving of alcohol into him, since the Athosian was slurring and swaying quiet heavily.

Unfortunately, however, Smeadon had also kept his advisors and fellow council members in the room. Even though he dismissed them the moment she and Kolya stepped into the room, all of them had seen her face and would most likely remember it for years to come. Non of them would ever talk to her again, if they had anything to hide.

While Kolya circled their target, to get a look at his face, Sora approached him from behind. As he gestured wildly, completely oblivious to the impeding danger, she grabbed his finger and twisted it ruthlessly, simultaneously wrapping her other arm around his neck.

Extracting intelligence had always been her specialty, and even though she detested violence, she had to admit it had its uses. Currently, for example, she was demonstrating Kolya that she had absolutely no mercy for her enemies. She just hoped the poor fellow in her arms was drunk enough to forget most of his ordeal by tomorrow.

To her surprise, Smeadon actually involved himself, and quickly began searching through the Athosian's clothes. In his left breast pocket, he eventually found a small, silver device. A large number of buttons, most of them carrying numbers on them, adorned the top. He barely spared the device a look before passing it to Kolya.

"Tell me the sequence of numbers to enter on this device." Kolya completely ignored the man's rambling.

"I can't tell you that."

Sora had to give the man credit for even trying, but she knew that failure was not an option yet. She tightened her arm and leaned down to his ear.

"It's not worth dying for."

She made sure to lower her voice, as if talking to him privately, but at the same time spoke loud enough for Kolya to hear, as well.

"You don't-don't understand." The Athosian was clearly panicked, now. "It's my hand that you need to put in the code. That's how it works."

In light of her plans, she had hoped for some resistance from the Athosian, considering he was keeping a vital secret for the Atlanteans, but she had dealt with enough drunk men to know he would crumble shortly. Immediately, however, was worse then she had expected.

Kolya smiled. To the man, it probably seamed comforting, but Sora felt nothing but dread for the man. "And the shield of the Atlantis Stargate will be lowered?"

"Yes, yes." Apparently, he thought his ordeal was almost over. "What is this? Who are they?"

Again, Kolya ignored the man, but instead ordered Sora to escort him to the gate. Smeaden answered, meanwhile, even though Sora had no idea why he would do that. He obviously did not care for the man, and he did not help break his will.

"They're friends, Doran."

Sora made sure to remember the man's name. Perhaps she might have use for him later, either to inform the Atlanteans of their leak, or to put more pressure on him.

"Make sure he will enter the code." Kolya continued, as if uninterrupted.

Sora smiled ferally. "He will." And hopefully, she added silently, nobody will be around to stop me from warning them.

She released the man's neck, and simultaneously twisted his arm to his back, forcing him to stand with a small, but most likely painful tug. As she led him out the door, she had to fight to keep him steady. Apparently, he had consumed enough alcohol not only to loosen his tongue, but to cause his motor function to fail, as well.

Two guards Kolya had insisted on bringing to the planet joined them directly outside the door. Sora scowled at them as they observed her struggling to move her captive along the path. About half way to the gate, the Athosian collapsed completely, falling forward into the mud and forcing Sora to let go of his arm. Had she not, his weight alone would have dragged her into the muddy earth.

For several moments, she struggled to lift his now completely unresponsive form back up, before gleeful laughter reminded her of the presence of the other two Genii. "Soldiers. Give me a hand here."

"What's the matter, girl? Can't even lift a single body?"

Sora's head snapped up, and she fixed the left soldier with a glare. Abandoning her efforts, she straightened herself up, and marched over, deftly stepping into his personal space. The top of her head barely reached his chin, but her glare made him step back. Sora resolutely stepped after him, keeping close. "Commander Kolya may address me however he wishes, but you are addressing an officer of the Genii, and your direct superior, soldier. If I have to repeat myself, I will court-martial you. If I hear you laughing again, I will execute you for treason on the spot." She grabbed the front of his uniform and pulled him down, getting no resistance from him. "Am I making myself clear." She chanced a glance at the second man, and saw that her message had sunk in there, as well.

With her father as Commander, the man might have even laughed in her face. While his behaviour had been unacceptable, they would have never executed him for it. Kolya, on the other hand, was ruthless enough to go through with such a threat, probably without giving him a chance to explain himself.

When the two soldiers hefted the man up and carried him between them, Sora contemplated her options. They were fast approaching the Gate, where they would return to their home world. Once there, the whole strike force would prevent her from going through the gate alone.

On the other hand, she had her sidearm, while the other two were impaired with the body. Additionally, excluding Kolya, who could overpower her with sheer strength, she was easily the best close combat fighter the Genii had. Unfortunately, however, their cargo was also her biggest problem. For her plan to work, she would need the activation code to lower the Atlantis shield. If she could warn them, she could proof her worth and hopefully earn their trust. While the man slept of his intoxication, he was of no use to her.

For a moment, she contemplated taking him to another world, instead. The instant Kolya discovered him and her missing, however, he would know that she had betrayed him and guess her plan. Then, he would not hesitate to use any force against the remaining Atlanteans to insure their immediate cooperation. Most likely, a good portion of them would not survive the day.

With heavy heart, Sora passed the soldiers and began dialing the Gate for Genii Prime. She would have to look for another opportunity to escape Kolya's influence.

She did not get it. Kolya returned to their barracks only minutes after them, and had their forces in position for the assault moments later. They were dressed in wide robes and rags, stolen from one of the countless primitive farm worlds they traded with, while four of them carried a pair of stretchers between them.

Kolya, of all people, was currently hidden on one of them, although Sora had no idea why. To the best of her knowledge, he had not yet met any of the Atlanteans, so there was no risk he would be recognized. Sora, on the other hand, most likely would be, not that she minded.

"Commander, I should go first and confirm safe passage." Kolya looked at her, thought for a moment, and finally shook his head. "They might recognize you and figure out that we are coming. Even if they don't, you won't have time to radio back. We will have to risk going all at once, with you in the very back."

Two guards dragged their Athosian prisoner forward, and Kolya slaps him hard across the face. The man jerked back and groggily opened his eyes. "Sober yet?" Kolya smiled ferally . "Good. I need you to enter the code we talked about. Please, be cooperative. I am sure the lady would love to have another go. Agreed?"

The man's eyes darted over to Sora, who was casually leaning against the dialling device. When Kolya handed him the device, he gave a hesitant nod.

"Girl, let's hear your acting voice. We are under attack by the Wraith, and urgently need to return with our wounded."

Well aware of the plan, Sora scowled at him, but obediently dug out her radio. She nodded to Kolya, who nodded to the technician manning the dialling device, who finally began entering the address the Hoffans had provided for them.

"There's been an attack on Manara. We've got wounded incoming. Lower the shield."

Kolya had to give their prisoner another stern look from his stretcher, but then the man began fumbling with his authorization device. Sora suspected he did not have a lot of practice using it. Kolya, meanwhile, turned towards the guard in uniform manning the perimeter of the gate. "You know what you are to do."

Their leader, a tall, muscled brute who had worked with their Commander on many off world missions, nodded curtly. "Yes, Commander."

"I am sure I did everything correctly, but they are not lowering the shield." The Athosian looked panicked, and Sora could not blame him. Instead, she once again picked up the radio. "Please, before it's too late!"

"We are lowering the shield." A distorted male voice reported from the device.

When their prisoner finally stopped fidgeting and looked up at Kolya hopefully, displaying the green light now shining on the device, the Commander smiled. "By tonight, we will have everything we need to finally free ourselves of the Wraith, and anyone else who seeks to stand above the Genii. Forward."

As commanded, Sora was the last one through the gate, although she was barely half a stepped behind the rest of the group. As she was about to cross the event horizon, a shot rang out behind her.

The young woman forced herself not to look back. She had suspected this was going to happen. The man was of no further use to the Genii, since he would have no relevant information for them to extract. Sending him back was out of the question, since he would warn his people immediately, so Kolya would have had to imprison him, sparring manpower to guard and feed him.

On the other side of the gate, Sora quickly passed by the group to get to the front. She doubted she could make much of a difference, anymore, but at least she wanted to see what was going on.

"What happened." Sora suspected it was the same voice she had just heard over the radio.

She stepped up, but made sure to keep her head down. While she was sure the two did not recognize her, they would have already sounded an alarm otherwise, she did not want to risk them seeing that she was not panicked. "They were everywhere. I can't believe they didn't kill us all."

The guard blinked at her, before scanning the room. "Who?"

Two shots rang from behind her, and Sora could not help but jump slightly when the two Atlanteans crumbled before her. Kolya stepped up to her, his uniform proudly on display, while the rest of the team quickly exposes theirs, getting rid of the wide rags they had drapped over it.

"Secure the room." Kolya ordered calmly, not minding the two corpses at his feet.

Sora glared at him and followed him away from the men. "These men could have been overpowered. We need the Atlanteans to be co-operative." She did, in particular, of course.

Kolya studied her for a moment, but said nothing. "Secure the room." He repeated instead.

When non of the man moved, Sora turned to them. As second in command, it would be her task to make sure they did their jobs. "Cover the entrances."

As the man finally started moving, Sora took some time to observe Kolya. The man had climbed the main staircase, and was currently overlooking the gate room with a satisfied smirk. He enjoyed the situation, she suspected.

A commotion on her left drew her attention. The men had picked up Dr. McKay and a woman, who were now held at gunpoint. Both were loudly demanding an explanation.

She moved towards them, training her gun on them and slowing her pace just enough to arrive after Kolya. "Doctor Elizabeth Weir." Kolya gloated.

"Yes." Clearly, the Atlantean leader still had a different idea about who was in charge.

Kolya did not mind. "And you must be Doctor McKay."

When the scientist did not answer, Sora confirmed his identity in his stead. "That's him." She forced a bit of contempt into her voice.

"Where is Major Sheppard?" Kolya questioned the pair. "I would like to know the whereabouts of Major Sheppard."

"You seem to know a lot about us. Who are you?" Doctor Weir ignored his question.

Before Kolya had a chance to answer, McKay answered for him, staring at Sora as he did. "They're Genii."

She smiled slightly, knowing that it would not be enough to mean anything. Of course, the man would have recognized her.

Kolya, meanwhile, had an answer of his own. "There's only one thing you need to know, Doctor Weir. As of right now, we are in control of Atlantis."

Sora almost groaned. How much more clicheé could the man get? Obviously, he had control over the city, for now. Did he have to gloat?

The group moved up the stairs and into the control room. Sora watched as Kolya immediately headed for the balcony, taking in the view of the city underneath, as if he had just singlehandedly conquered it. Sora mentally scoffed. They had overcome a pair of guards and captured two, admittedly high ranking, base officials. She would hardly call that a conquest.

"Who are you?" Kolya had moved back inside and was questioned by Doctor Weir.

"Commander Acastus Kolya of the Genii. This Atlantis is extraordinary - more than I ever imagined."

So he had actually been enjoying the view, Sora realized astonished. At least, that's what he wanted them to believe.

She listened absentmindedly while Kolya assured Doctor Weir of the well-being of her people, explained how they had entered the city and made his demands, while observing the room.

There were still three more Genii in the room, as well as Kolya and herself, but while Sora had kept her weapon out and trimmed on the prisoners, most of the men had relaxed. They were no threat, of course, being completely unarmed and with minimal combat experience, but Sora kept hoping for a chance to set them free. Weir had assured Kolya that Sheppard was still on the mainland, but the woman had a lousy poker face. Despite being taken prisoner, Weir still had hope that the situation would change.

Movement from Doctor McKay brought her attention back to the discussion.

"Elizabeth, just give him what he needs. He needs the C4, the medical supplies and the Wraith data device - just give them to him. None of that's worth dying for," the scientist stated, much to calmly in her opinion.

Sora smirked when she saw him pressing a button, masking the movement as if he was leaning on the console. Smart man – he was obviously informing somebody of their plan. For Sora, that meant that, somewhere out there, there was still somebody on the side of Atlantis moving freely.

Unfortunately, one of the guards staying behind had noticed the movement as well, and, when he stepped forward to take a closer look, alerted Kolya.

"Step away from the console."

Sora watched, slightly amused as Doctor McKay jumped back. "I was leaning. I was just leaning." She doubted he was fooling anybody in the room.

Moments later, at Kolya's order, she followed Weir through the bright halls of the city of the Ancestors to secure their loot. Thankfully, Kolya had not specified which guards she was to take, so she could handpick two of them, that would at least recognize her authority as second in command.

As such, while Weir unpacked the Wraith data device, she could actually talk to her privately.

"Where is Teyla Emmagan?" She would most likely be the most sympathetic to Sora's cause.

Weir looked up at her sharply. "You know Teyla?"

"Is she here? In the city?" Sora questioned, foregoing the obvious answer.

"No, she isn't." Weir must have seen her disappointment. "You must be Sora. I read the Genii mission report - I'm sorry about your father."

"He'll be avenged."

"Teyla didn't kill him." Weir injected sharply.

Sora chanced a glance at her two escorts. If they strained their ears, they might be able to hear her. "I will have justice. Revenge must be had."

"There can not be revenge and justice at once, Sora." Weir lectured her.

"When the cause is just, revenge is justice."

Weir looked up at her disappointedly. "And you really think killing Teyla is just?"

Before Sora had a chance to retort, one of their escorts had wandered over. "How much longer does this take? Commander Kolya is expecting us back in the Gate room?"

Sora stared at the soldier hard. She would have liked to berate him for his disrespected, but doing so in hostile environment was against regulations and would cast doubt on her position. In fact, it might be exactly what Kolya needed to boot her out. Also, he was right.

She questioningly glanced over at Weir.

"All of the information we downloaded from the Wraith ship is still on this device." The Atlantean leader explained as she handed over the drive.

As Weir led the group back through the city's endless corridors, Sora wondered about their mode of transportation. She had caught a few glimpses of the city's long piers stretching out in all directions. Walking everywhere seemed impractical, but neither did she see ships flying over the city, nor did she suspect the city housed that many of the flying machines.

"How do you normally get around?" Sora had caught up to the woman and walked close, lowering her voice so the guards did not hear her. After all, any information might turn out to be a tactical advantage.

Weir looked back at her. "What do you mean?"

After Sora had explained her reasoning, Weir turned to look at her. When her eyes widened slightly, Sora reached out and gently pulled her along by the elbow. "Do not stop. You will simply attract attention to us."

To her relief, Weir complied immediately. "I don't understand."

Sora was unsure if she was referring to her question or to her behaviour. Before she had a chance to answer, however, Weir swiped her hand over a console on the wall, and reopened the wall to the control room.

As they entered the room, Weir immediately hurried to McKay's side. There was strength in numbers, of course, but Sora was surprised to see real concern in her eyes as she examined the stab wound in his arm. Kolya, certainly, could not care less if any one of his men were harmed, unless they were unable to fullfill their duties.

Meanwhile, she had reluctantly wandered over to the Commander, giving him a brief nod to show that they had gotten their device. At the same time, one of their soldiers, who she herself had dispatched to secure the C4, hurried back towards them.

"Commander!" He carried a strange, black box with an antenna attached to its top. Clearly, it was not created by the Ancestors, but more likely by the strangers."The C4 was missing, but we found this in its place."

Kolya took the device, before looking at her. She shrugged. "From the design, I suspect it is a radio, but it might just as well be a beacon, a detonator or something completely different. However, I suspect it was intended for you, so you best ask."

"Ah, yes." Kolya smiled ferally. "I believe Doctor McKay will be most cooperative."

Sora followed him half way as he approached their prisoners, before standing at the edge of the room. From there, she could hear what was being said, without actually appearing to listen.

"It's a radio. The arrow points to the 'talk' button."

As one, Weir, Kolya and Sora rolled their eyes. To her surprise, the Commander did not snap back, but instead activated the communicator.

Delighted, she could just make our Major Sheppard's voice coming from the small device. By all accounts, he would be an important ally.

"However, Doctor McKay recently shared with me there's a plan in action to save the city."

Sora abruptly tuned back in, her eyes darting over to the scientist and the small scratch on his arm. Apparently, she had overestimated him, if that was all it took to make him cave in.

"He did?!" At least, Sheppard's surprise gave her some hope for the man.

"He did. My understanding is there is one final grounding station that needs to be deactivated. Uncouple the grounding rods at Station Three, assist with the reactivation of the shield, and you and your friends can leave here unharmed."

Sora's eyes widened. Taking the city had never been part of his plan, and as a result, her own did not account for it.

"Why raid a city when you can seize it, Major? Atlantis will be ours or the ocean's. You choose." Unfortunately, Kolya's plan made sense.

For several long moments, everything was silent. Sora held her breath. She knew Kolya long enough to know that, once he had committed to a new path, he would not be swayed. Should Sheppard choose to fight him openly, the Commander would lash out against anything in his way. Most likely, both their two prisoners would not survive the day or even the hour.

"All right, Kolya. Give me some time to get there."

"Five minutes, Sheppard."

McKay opened his mouth to protest, but thankfully stayed silent when Weir's hand clamped down on his lower arm. "He can make it." From the distance, Sora had to read the older woman's lips to understand what she whispered.

When Kolya did not wait for a reply, but instead turned to walk into the adjacent office. Judging by its setup and the close proximity to the control room, Sora suspected it belonged to Weir. The woman seemed to fit the spartan but tasteful design.

"Sora?" Weir had turned to her and was looking at her expectantly. Sora made sure that no expression leaked into her features before turning. "Yes, Doctor Weir?"

"Do you think you could take me in to see Commander Kolya?"

Sora stared at her. "I am not sure that is wise, yet. Give him time to cool down."

"Unfortunately," Weir countered, "time is not on our side. Even if Major Sheppard makes it to the grounding station, there is still a storm approaching."

Sora inspected the other woman for a long moment. In the end, she had to trust her that she knew what she was doing. By all accounts they had managed to gather, Doctor Weir was an accomplished diplomat. If anyone could get through to Kolya, it would be her.

"All right, follow me." She finally decided. "But do not expect much."

"Thank you for seeing me." Doctor Weir began as she entered the office. "This city was designed to be inhabited by the Ancients and their direct descendants and although, yes, while there is limited functionality for those who do not possess the Ancient gene, it is only those who have it who can revive the city to its true potential."

Sora's eyebrows rose. So far, all accounts she had heard implied that the strangers had come to Atlantis by accident, but had no special connection to the Ancestors.

"And you have this gene?" Kolya was clearly sceptical.

"No, but many of my team do. The Wraith are slowly waking. Soon this entire galaxy will be embroiled in a war the likes of which our generations have never seen." Weir argued.

Sora winced slightly. Kolya was sure to twist that statement in a way Weir would not like. Rhetorically, he was no Cowen, but Sora had no doubt that he would not miss an opportunity like that.

"A war that you expedited." And there it was.

"Disagreements like ours will no longer matter." Weir cut her losses. "The only thing of any consequence will be how prepared we are and what defence we are able to mount. Now, this city holds many secrets which will help us win that war - but only if my team are here to discover them. So, fine, take whatever you need for your people, but if you don't leave us this city you're only hurting yourselves in the long run."

"You believe your people - who are not even of this galaxy - are closer to the Ancients than we are? Your arrogance is astounding." Kolya sneered. "We will take this city, we will mount a defence, and we will win - with or without your help, Doctor Weir."

Before the Atlantean had a chance to answer, one of their soldiers stepped into the room. "Sir, he's at the grounding station."

Kolya nodded and stood, quickly leaving the room to advise the men he had placed there one more time.

"He's just standing there, sir."

"Hold your position. Do not approach until he's finished." Kolya commanded.

"Yes, sir."

"Use lethal force only if necessary."

Sora frowned. By all accounts, Sheppard was too valuable in their fight to be executed like that, and going back on their word would undermine the Genii's reputation. More importantly for her personally, it would, by extension, undermine her reputation as well.

"You told him he would be unharmed." She whispered to Kolya, her voice just loud enough to be heard by their two prisoners as well.

"Let's hope he doesn't put up much of a fight."

Once again, Sora was reminded that Kolya was a cruel man, who enjoyed the bloodshed most others heavy-heartedly tolerated.

For the following minutes, the whole room listened breathlessly to the silence of the radio.

"He's stopped - he's not at the control panel any more. He's looking around." One of the soldiers reported via radio.

"Hold your fire." Kolya renewed his order.

McKay protested loudly, but was quickly silenced by one of the guards pressing down on his wounded arm.

Another nerve recking few minutes later, the communicator sprang to life once again. "Let me tell you what you did wrong here, Kolya." Sheppards voice rang through the Genii device. "A: you lost two of your men. B: you damaged the switch before I could separate the grounding rods, which I'm sure you're gonna get an earful from McKay for; and C: you lost all of what little credibility you had with me."

Sora did not have to look at the Commander's face to know that he was furious.

To her surprise, however, McKay spoke first. Apparently, when it came to his beloved city, the man knew no fear. "D'you have any idea of how big a setback that is? I may not even be able to activate the shield. I mean, I can't possibly..:" The guard once again attempted to quiet him, but now, the scientist had talked himself into rage. "Get off me!"

"You killed two of my men." Kolya growled into the radio.

"I guess we're even!" Sheppard sounded almost chipper.

Sora turned her attention away from their dispute.

"I don't like even."

McKay had retreated into himself. Earlier, she would have suspected he was in denial, but now, he was most likely all ready planning how to fix the destroyed interface.

"I'm not finished yet!"

Doctor Weir, meanwhile, was completely focused on Kolya, starring him in the face without blinking. She was trying to read him, Sora knew, to get a feeling for his goals and his next moves.

"Neither am I. Say goodbye to Doctor Weir."

As Kolya pointed his gun at Doctor Weir, most of the Genii soldiers tensed, as well. All of them knew that desperate people took immense risks, and would not care about their odds of survival.

"The city has a self-destruct button. You hurt her, I'll activate it. Nobody'll get Atlantis." Sora did not listen to Kolya's reply. She knew as well as Kolya that Sheppards threat was empty and therefore would not delay the Genii.

"Even if it exists, Major, you need at least two senior personnel to activate it - and I'm about to take one of them out of the equation."

Her own weapon had cleared its holster, as well. For the first time, Sora cursed her position in the room. While she could easily read Kolya's face, she had no choice but to point her weapon in the opposite direction. If she stood behind the Commander or on the opposite site of the circle, she could point it at him.

"Kolya?!" The radio crackled again. "Kolya?!" I'll give you a ship! I'll fly it out of here for you myself!" Sheppard bargained. "Kolya! Kolya! Kolya, don't do this!"

As it was, she had to rely on her speed. She could not let Weir die, so if Kolya decided to fire, she would have to swing around and take him down before he squeezed the trigger. Fortunately, she was faster then he was – a lot faster, but making this shot would still be difficult.

Getting herself and the two Atlanteans out of the room afterwards, with the Genii soldiers then most likely attacking her, would be almost impossible, however. She would have to rely on the risk of friendly fire to prevent them from targeting her efficiently.

Tensing slightly, Sora prepared herself to spring into action.


	3. Chapter 3: The Eye

**Chapter 3: The Eye**

"How is this gonna help you get what you want?" Weir questioned.

Sora had to give her points for trying. Although she seemed terrified, and had little chance of making it through the next few moments alive, her voice was strong and steady and her eyes never left Kolya's.

"Sheppard put you in this position, not me." Kolya sneered back.

It would only take a few more moments, Sora knew, before the man fired.

Suddenly, McKay surprised her. Without any doubt or hesitation, he stepped forward, putting his own body between the pistol and his superior. Sora's eyebrows lifted in surprise. So far, she had thought the man to be an egocentric coward.

"You can't do this. This is crazy. You need her."

When Kolya frowned, Sora stepped forward. "He's right, Commander." McKay had just drastically increased their chance to make it out alive.

"I'm not kidding. There are codes required to activate the shield – codes that only she knows. You can't do it without her." Defensively lifting his hands, McKay tried to retreat a step. "Well, you can't do this without me either. I mean, we're a package deal. You take us out of the equation and-and-and-and you don't have an end game."

Sora had to admit, the man certainly had a talent for rambling. Either that, or he was completely panicked.

"Granted, that's a – that's a chess term. I'm-I'm ... My point is, we're the only ones who can fix the Grounding Station, we're the only ones who can activate the shield, we're the only ones who can solve problems I can't even think of yet! You kill either one of us and you don't get what you want."

Finally, Kolya understood, lowering his weapon and thereby causing his men to do the same.

"_That's_ how important we are. It's impor..." McKay was relentless.

"Rodney. Rodney, he gets it." Thankfully, Weir stopped the scientist. Judging by Kolya's look, he was contemplating whether or not killing him for some silence was worth loosing the city and Sora could not really blame him.

When Kolya left, Weir turned towards her. Sora lifted an eyebrow. Right now, the woman should be really quiet and not annoy anyone.

"I appreciate ..."

Sora's eyes darted around the room. While Kolya had left, a handful of guards still surrounded them, guarding the prisoners and listening to every word spoken. No doubt, one of them would report to Kolya later on.

"You're an asset we need to complete this mission." She forced her voice to be cold, before turning to leave, as well.

Half an hour later, Sora used Atlantis' sophisticated equipment to watch as Sheppard picked of the group they had sent after him. Happily, she admitted to herself that she had underestimated him. The man had easily seen the ambush coming, and had turned it around on his attackers, eliminating them without any chance to fight back.

"Commander." Sora activated her radio. It was her duty to inform Kolya, and this would most likely work to their advantage. "Ladon has been leading three of our men on a reconnaissance mission. It seems Major Sheppard has killed three more of our strike team."

"Tell everyone to move back to the Control Room." Kolya ordered her, just as she had expected. From now on, Sheppard would be able to move unobstructed.

"Right away, sir."

"Radio Chief Cowen. Tell him to send reinforcements – a full company." Sora swallowed. Sixty men would be enough to overwhelm any guerilla tactic Sheppard could mount. She had to warn him.

Activating her radio once again, she switched to an open channel. "All teams, fall back to secure the gate room until reinforcements can arrive. We will take Sheppard with superior numbers."

Sheppard had one of their radios, after all. He would just have to find a way to work around the guard now stationed in the central spire.

Half an hour later, the room suddenly went dark. "Commander. Major Sheppard has cut power to the Control Room."

"Looks like Atlantis is being powered by five small generators, each responsible for a separate area of the city. Major Sheppard has just disabled the one generator that powers Stargate Operations in this tower. Now, we still have most primary operations. We have definitely lost all secondary systems." Ladon reported.

"Can you still track Sheppard?"

Sora checked the console they had used before. "No."

"Then we have no idea where he is now?"

"No, sir." Obviously, since he had ordered her to recall all soldiers.

"Is the Control Room secure?"

Unfortunately, she still had that problem. "Yes, Commander. I suggest we send some men to guard the remaining generators."

"No! He's trying to divide us into manageable numbers." That was her plan, after all. "Just hold Stargate Operations until the reinforcements arrive."

"Understood." Sora confirmed, disheartened. Sheppard would have to sweeten the deal some more.

It only took the Major a few minutes to disable a second generator, despite being on the other side of the city. Hopefully, it was equally critical.

"Yes, Ladon, I'm aware of that. He's cut the power to Grounding Station Three."

Once again, Sheppard surprised Sora. No other generator would have been as effective. If Kolya wanted to keep Atlantis, he would have to fix the problem. Time to cause some stress.

"Commander, the storm has not slowed its pace. We have little time to get the shields activated. We should re-evaluate our goal. Perhaps ..."

"We still have more than enough time to complete our objectives." Sora had expected no less, of course.

"Then I must strongly advise that we send men down to repair the deactivated generators and to guard the remaining active ones." She advised.

"Agreed. Teams of two. But I want _you_ to watch over the Control Room. As soon as the reinforcements arrive, have them take Sheppard with overwhelming force." Kolya ordered.

Desperately, tried to remember the exact number of soldiers they had brought. She should know, of course, but she never bothered to memorize their names or faces.

There were ten double bunks in the barracks, she finally remembered. The Commanders big lap dog had stayed behind on Genii Prime to oversee the guards, Sheppard had already eliminated two at the grounding station and another three in the ambush, Kolya was at the grounding station and ten would be needed to guard the five reactors.

That left herself, Landon and two guards in the control room.

"Understood." She confirmed. Sheppard would have to managed.

One company was kept on standby, she knew, just in case they were ever needed. They had informed Cowen about two minutes ago, after which they would have to gear up, exit the bunkers and head for the gate.

At best, Sora suspected, Sheppard had another five minutes left for whatever he planned.

Four minutes later, she grew impatient.

"How many should we expect?" She questioned, mostly to keep herself from fretting.

"A full company – sixty or more." Ladon answered. She knew, already, of course. After all, she was a officer, while he was a scientist. There was a good chance Sheppard was already nearby, however, and he had to know what was at stake.

"I don't know how we were expected to take a facility this size with any less." Landon mused.

"It was _supposed_ to be a raid to retrieve what was rightfully ours."

Moments later, the Stargate finally began to dial. Sora smiled, glad that the wait was over even if it meant all her plans were for nought.

From the balcony overlooking the gateroom, she observed as the connection was established. With a ripple, the first Genii soldier stepped through the Stargate.

Just as Sora contemplated acting herself, a faint movement drew her gaze. As her eyes grew used to the darkness, she pierced the shadow and saw the Majors face starring back at her.

Before the man had a chance to react, Sora glanced at Landon before turning abruptly.

She gestured to the guards. "With me. Come on."

"Reinforcements are arriving now, Commander." Even without turning, Sora knew the scientist had his radio out.

"Have them secure Stargate Operations and report back to me." Kolya's reply came back through her radio, as well.

"Yes, Commander."

Concerned, Sora observed as the first few men stepped through the event horizon, pausing a few steps away to take in the hall they had arrived in. Sora could not fault them – Atlantis was more majestic then any place she had ever seen or heard of.

She waited for several long moments, both to give them a chance to appreciate the view and to give Sheppard time to enact whatever plan he had. Eventually, however, she knew she had to act to save her cover.

"Secure the area. Then I want you to ..."

Sora jumped when the shield activated, both from the unexpected movement and to fool her companions. Silently, she applauded Sheppard. The shield was an easy and effective solution to his problem. Most likely, he had planned for it even before Kolya had ordered the second wave to be sent. The Genii had similar emergency plans.

"Turn it off, Ladon!"

When nothing happened, Sora turned back around. In the light cone of her flashlight, she could just make out the body of Landon, either dead or just unconscious, and Sheppard standing over him.

"Stop him!" Her shout finally sprung the handful of men she had with her into action. With a few short burst from their bulky assault rifles, they forced Sheppard to duck and flee. Even then, however, his return fire, intended more to distract them then to attack them, killed the two guards she had left, and one of the new arrivals.

Immediately, she activated her radio, making her way up the stairs at the same time. "This is Sora. Stop sending the reinforcements! The Stargate shield has been raised!" There was no sense in having simple soldiers die for nothing, after all.

Changing the frequency, she addressed Kolya instead. "Sheppard has raised the Gate shield!"

"Shut it down! Turn it off!"

"I don't know how! Ladon is unconscious!" She had spent enough time to familiarize herself with the technology of the Ancestors, of course, to know that the central button was most likely, but she had absolutely no desire to comply.

"Well, he must have entered his own personal command code!" McKay's voice came over the radio, most likely after Kolya had threatened him for help. Sora doubted Sheppard had. Locking her out would have taken time, and he only had seconds to act.

For a few more moments, Sora listened in on the discussion, noting that nothing of consequence was said, before seeing the gate shut down. "It's no use. It's over. The Gate has shut down. There are no more men coming."

"How many men made it?" Kolya questioned her.

"Five. Five of sixty." Three of which were dead, already, but Kolya did not have to know that. Knowing him, he would attempt to get revenge, somehow, and he still held Weir and McKay hostage.

Instead, Sora leant down to check on Landon. To her surprise, the scientist was only unconscious, and was already stirring. Judging by the bump on the back of his head, he would have a mean headache, but should be able to continue his work. Then again, Sheppard had so far not only reacted to their attack, and had not killed unnecessarily. Maybe these people actually did things differently, here.

With a light slap to the cheek, she brought Ladon fully back to conscious, watching as he sat up groggily. "Sheppard got to you. Take a moment to make sure you are all right, but then I'll need you to check on the gate controls. He locked us out."

Ladon nodded at her, and immediately pushed himself to his feet. Sora hovered nearby for a moment while he swayed, but ultimately trusted him to stay upright when he began typing on the main console.

"He's entered some sort of security code to lock down the Gate. Just give me some time. I should be able to crack it."

Confirming his orders, Sora turned on her radio to report back to Kolya. "Commander. Ladon thinks he can have the Gate fixed."

"Did Athor's son make it through the Gate?" Sora blinked.

"I'm sorry?"

"His name is Idos. Did he make it?" She had not expected the question, and did not even know that Kolya had any friends close enough to make him forget about the mission. Apparently, there was something human left in the man.

"No, sir." She actually pitied the man.

"Over sixty men killed!" Kolya growled angrily.

"Defending his home and his people, Commander. As _we_ would."

"When can more reinforcements be sent?"

And just like that, the cold bastard was back. "It will take time. Perhaps an hour."

"Unacceptable."

"Yes, Commander, it _is_ unacceptable, because by then we will be in the full force of the storm." Sora just barly stopped herself from shouting. Taking the city was now impossible. Kolya should retreat while he still can. Everything else would just cost unnecessary lives.

For the next hour, Sora paced around the control room, observing Landon as he attempted to fix the computer systems and listening to Kolya bargaining with Sheppard. From the way things were going, and judging by the size of the waves crashing into the city outside, the end of the mission was fast approaching, one way or the other.

Her radio cracked to life. "Sora, we have him."

She almost swore aloud. Now, when it was almost over, the Major allowed himself to be caught. The man had truly bad timing.

"Keep him alive. I'm on my way."

With a last nod to Landon, Sora left the control room, quickly falling into a light run. Although she had instructed the soldiers not to harm Sheppard, the situation was far to explosive to leave unattended for too long. Both sides were most likely extremely trigger happy.

In her haste, she almost overheard Sheppard's voice directly in front of her. "...anybody left in the hallway is as good as dead."

Sora stopped and pressed herself into a dark corner. With main power still out, the emergency lights lacked the power to illuminate every nook of the otherwise brightly lit city.

Peering around the corner, she observed the group Sheppard was talking to. In the darkness, she could make out the shape of three men and one woman, all of them armed. With a stiffled gasp, Sora finally recognized the lone female as Teyla.

Before she had a chance to reveal herself, her radio came to life. "Why haven't you responded?"

Sora cursed and fumbled for the clip holding her small communicator. She held the talk button for a moment, preventing any incoming transmissions, to listen for any indication that she had been discovered.

When four pairs of feet began to move away from her position, Sora leaned out, noting that Teyla appeared to have moved left. She reactivated her radio, pausing a moment to think. The new reinforcements were an advantage for the Atlanteans, but only as long as Kolya did not know about it.

"I think I saw something, Commander. I want to check it out."

"The storm is upon us. The city is no longer safe." Kolya answered.

"It will only take a moment. Sora out."

Sora deactivated her radio and moved to follow Teyla. Now was her last chance to make contact.

Following the trail Teyla and her companion had taken, she quickly gained on the rather slow moving pair, easily tracking them by the man's constant, loud babbling.

Knowing that she was still an enemy, and fearing to be shot on sight, Sora gripped her father's knife.

The pair had their backs to her, so she no problem to sneak up from behind and lock her arm around the man's chest, her knife on his throat.

"Stop."

The man froze, and Sora could feel him shaking beneath her arm, while Teyla twisted on the spot, her gun coming up and the flashlight shining right at Sora's face.

"Sora? What are you doing?"

Sora smiled. "I just had to be sure you would not kill me on sight. Rumour has it, you are even faster then I am. If I let go, can I trust you to hear me out?"

Teyla appeared confused. "Of course. This was unnecessary." She still waited to lower her weapon until Sora removed the knife, though.

With a light push, she sent the trembling man a step forward, and out of her personal space. "Sorry about that."

While Sora fumbled for words, Teyla approached her former hostage, who had sunk against the wall and was still trembling. "Carston, are you all right?"

"Aye, thank you, Telya. I'll be fine. Just give me a moment."

A pang of guilt shot through Sora. She had assumed the man was a soldier, like the others she had encountered so far, who would have the training to deal with a situation like this.

"I'm sorry. I did not mean to hurt you."

The man smiled at her. "It's all right, lass. I should really be used to these things by now."

Her comment had turned Teyla's attention back to her. "What did you want, Sora?"

Sora winced. Teyla's voice seemed to alternate between curiosity and hostility, and Sora could certainly relate. Her people had just invaded their home, after all.

With practised ease, she flipped the knife in her hand, now holding it by the blade.

"This was my father's knife, handed down from his father, and one of his most prized possessions." Sora had practised the conversation in her head countless of times, but now that she was standing here, she could not seem to make it work.

"I have hidden a number of documents in the handle, containing Genii off-world bases, the results of our research on the Wraith, and some random facts I thought might be useful." She paused once more, trying to collect her thoughts.

"Why? What do you want in return?" Teyla questioned.

"It also contains the last letter my father ever wrote me, hidden for me to find after his death. He was murdered. He went to that Wraith Hive ship to die, because Cowen and Kolya had backed him into a corner. I want to get out. In exchange, I want asylum, here on Atlantis, amongst you."

The other woman's brows furrowed. "Why here? Why go through all that trouble. There are countless worlds out there were you would be safe."

Sora blinked. "From what I have seen and heard, you are the only one who has the ability and will to fight the Wraith, and I want to help."

Teyla smiled. "You went through all that trouble, just to be able to help?"

"Of course. It was my father's wish. I have trained for this fight my whole life. This galaxy has suffered from the Wraith for too long."

Teyla looked to the man on the ground, seemingly deferring to his judgement. "In the end, it is Elizabeth's decision, but I think she will go for it."

Just then, Teyla's radio crackled to life. "We're in position."

"Sorry Major, we had a bit of a delay. Give us two minutes." Teyla answered confidently.

Turning to the others, she nodded down the corridor. "Come on, we have to hurry."

The trio hurried through the corridors, fastly bypassing the control room and climbing further up. Sora stopped when they entered Atlantis' main hangar, starring around the room in awe. While the Genii bunkers had similarly sized rooms, none of them were as gracefully designed, and, more importantly, none of them held the dozen or so spaceships. From the looks of it, they were all identical to the one the assault team had flown to the Wraith Hive some weeks prior.

By the time Sora had regained her wits, Teyla and Carson had already ushered a group of Athosians children from the first jumper, and had climbed aboard.

"Stay here." She instructed them, "You will be safe here, don't worry. Sora, you stay as well, we will deal with you later." Activating her radio, she spoke into it. "Major, we are in position."

"Good timing. From the looks of it, the Genii are evacuating, and they are taking Weir and McKay. Go in immediately."

Teyla nodded, even though Sheppard could not see her, and gently pushed a complaining Carson into the ships interior.

"Wait, I can help."

The Athosian observed her for a second, before shaking her head. "Next time, maybe. For now, stay here. I can't have you get in the way."

Moments later, Sora could see Carson taking the pilot's seat of the small craft. Within moments, he had the ship hovering in the air, before approaching a large opening in the back of the room.

Just as the ship lowered itself into the room below, which Sora suspected to be the gate room, she heard the telltale kawoosh of a Stargate activation, followed immediately by gunfire from both Atlantean and Genii weapons.

Hurrying over to the hole, she peered down into the room below. The ship was hovering motionlessly in the centre of the room, right above the Stargate. Below, she could make out Sheppard and a second man, most likely Ford, as they pushed into the room. For a few seconds, the Genii soldiers fired on the ship, assuming it to be the larger threat and allowing the two men two easy kills. The two dead had been out in the open, standing in front of the gate to ferry supplied to the other side.

Five Genii remained in the room by the time they turned back to face their true attackers. Kolya had taken Weir hostage, and was using her body to shield himself from Sheppard's scope, while a soldier attempted to do the same with Doctor McKay. A second one had sought shelter in a small niche of the main staircase, while two more Genii still remained on the upper level, protected from the firefight below by the hovering ship. From the looks of it, neither Sheppard nor Ford were aware of their presence.

Peering directly downwards, Sora found a small walkway, most likely used only for maintenance, running directly underneath the hangar bay doors and towards the control room.

With a glance back to the three Athosians, who were watching her curiously, but seemed to be afraid to approach the huge hole, Sora stepped forward, and dropped the short distance onto the walkway. The sound of impact was barely audible, even to her own ears, over the gunfire below.

Running along it's length, Sora watched as Ford dropped the soldier holding McKay with a shot to the knee, followed by a second one to the chest. He had a better angle to Sheppard, who was carefully approaching Kolya.

"You're not going anywhere." Sheppard's voice rung through the room.

In the edge of her vision, Sora could see the ship's rear door opening. She suspected Teyla wanted to engage in the fight, as well, but for the moment, the ship shielded her from the action.

"I _will_ shoot you if you don't let her go. "

Down below, Ford fired a few rounds to the last entrenched Genii, forcing the man to duck back behind the staircase. The two at the top, meanwhile hesitantly stepped forward, intending on joining the fight but hesitant to do so without any cover to operate from.

Slowly, the ship began to turn on the spot. Within seconds, Teyla would have a clear shot for Ford's adversary, freeing the Lieutenant to engage Kolya from the side and rendering his human shield useless.

"And risk hurting Doctor Weir?" Kolya taunted back.

More importantly, however, as the ship turned, it exposed Sheppard's back to the staircase. Already, one of the soldiers on top seemed to have spotted the man's feet, and was raising his weapon to fire once he had a clear shot. For a few moments, no sound escaped the gateroom.

Sora quickened her steps, reaching for her holster at the same time. The second Genii had reacted as well, and was just beginning to take aim for the same target as his colleague.

Sora was now near enough that she could just make out the first man's chests, slowly lifting and lowering in time with his breaths. Then, he froze completely, just as she had thought him, to have the best possible aim.

"I'm not aiming at her." Sheppard stated ominously.

Sora did not hesitate. Her two shots shattered the silence, dropping both Genii soldiers before they had a chance to fire. Teyla's burst followed half a second later, hitting the entrenched Genii in the knee, which allowed Ford to advance and finish the man of.

Sora turned just in time to see Sheppard fire as well, her own weapon rising of it's own accord.

Sheppard's shot was impressive, missing Weir by no more then two centimetres and striking Kolya in the right shoulder. As the man stumbled backwards, away from his hostage and into the open event horizon, Sora fired as well.

Despaired, she watched as the man stumbled backwards, just before a ripple announced that her bullets had arrived too late to strike him. Theoretically, she knew, she might hit him just after he emerged on the other side, but the chances were slim. Two distinct objects tended to have slightly different travel times through the wormhole.

"All clear." Teyla's voice rang through the suddenly once again silent room, while McKay ran up the stairs towards the control room and Sheppard moved forward to crouch over Weir. Both his and Ford's weapon were pointing straight at her.

Slowly, trying not to startle anybody, Sora lowered her weapon, before returning it to it's holster and looking at Teyla. "It's all right, Major," the Athosian ensured her commander. "She has surrendered to me and requested asylum.

Sheppard hesitated for a moment, before half lowering his weapon, while keeping his body between her and his leader. Nodding to Ford, the Lieutenant lowered his weapon as well, and rapidly approached her.

"Sorry about that, Elisabeth. I had to, uh ..." Sheppard paused for a few seconds. When no reply came, he continued carefully. "You OK?"

Sora continued along the walkway while the Atlantean leader shook her head. "No."

"You will be. Come on." Sheppard pulled her back to her feet just as Sora climbed down a walkway just over the control room. At the bottom, Ford was already waiting for her. Reluctantly, she handed over her weapon.

"I trust you will take good care of that."

As Lieutenant Ford dismantled the weapon, carefully inspecting the parts with a trained gaze, Doctor McKay rushed by them.

"Wait! What are you doing?" Ford called after him.

"I thought I'd activate the shield and save the day. You got something else in mind?"

Ford grinned. "No, you go right ahead."

"All right," McKay began to mumble, "recalibrating the shield; disabling the central grounding station, and we are ready."

Just then, Sheppard and Weir entered the Control Room as well. "Rodney, how are we doing?"

"On your mark, Elisabeth." The scientist grinned confidently.

Sora observed quietly while Doctor Weir looked around the room. "Is everybody accounted for?"

Just then, Teyla and the other man, Carson, entered the room as well. "The Athosians are safe inside the jumper. From what we know, nobody else is out there."

"Time is of the essence, here, Elisabeth." McKay reminded her gently.

The Atlantean leader glanced back at Sora, who shrugged helplessly. "Kolya ordered every Genii back, and they complied. But I don't know if you have any more people out there."

Weir nodded shortly. "Rodney, go."

"Going." The scientist tapped a last key, and stood back, waiting expectantly.

"What's happening?" Weir questioned after a few seconds.

"It's working! It just needs to build up enough power for the shield to activate! Wait for it!"

"So, how come it did not do that once we disconnected the last power station?" Sora asked quietly.

"There is a fifth one underneath the central tower, that I can disable from here. Otherwise, the city would have been flooded with lightning before we had a chance to get back to safety." The scientist explained absentmindedly.

"Activating the shield." Immediately, a pale orange glow filled the sky outside the gate rooms large windows. Sora watched, amazed, as the bubble slowly worked itself up, before finally closing right over the central tower.

"How come the shield remains active? Should we not run out of power, now that the lightning is blocked?"

McKay grinned, now visibly less stressed. "That's my genius. I reconfigured the shield, of course, to allow the lightning to pass through, but at the same time blocking the water. Quite a feat, if I might just say so, after all, Lantean shields are usually designed to block energy weapons, like those of the Wraith, and only block physical objects as an afterthought, of sorts."

"Rodney." Weir's warning voice cut him off. "Carson, why don't you have a look at Rodney's arm. Teyla, you seem to have made a new friend."

For the first time, the attention of the whole room shifted back to Sora. "Hello, everybody." She waved shyly, glancing at everybody in the room, including Ford, who was still standing half a step behind her, his hand on his weapon.

"Sora, perhaps you better explain yourself." Teyla smiled at her encouragingly.

Sora thought for a moment, before pulling her father's knife from her belt. Behind her, Ford tensed.

Her arms strained against the handle, twisting the weapon until it broke with a sharp crack. Silently, Sora vowed to repair it later. It had been in her family for too long to simply been discarded, and for the moment, it was all she had left of her father.

The inside of the handle was hollowed out and filled with a wad of papers. With two fingers, she pulled them out, and unrolled the pack, handing the topmost to Doctor Weir.

"When we last met, Teyla told me to make my father's sacrifice worth something. Before you revealed your ships, Kolya might have let you leave in peace, but I would have been executed for treason. A few hours later, I found this, hidden for me by my father before the mission."

Weir inspected the note, reading it before looking up at Sora. "I am so sorry, Sora. Nobody deserves this."

Curiously, McKay stepped over, and read the note upside down, before glancing over at her. "Yes, this is all very touching, but what do you want from us."

"Nothing," Sora stated confidently. "Everything, I don't know. I want to continue fighting. I can make a difference, but I can not do it alone."

Sora glanced around the room, trying to gauge the different reactions. Teyla was openly supportive, as she had hoped, as was the man, Carson, whom she had captured earlier, while Weir and Sheppard seemed to be at least intrigued by what she had to offer the cause. McKay and Ford, however, were openly distrusting.

"Not to hamper your enthusiasm, or anything, but just half an hour ago, you and your people were trying to kill us. There is no way we are going to give you a weapon and sent you out there to shoot our backs."

Sora nodded and tried to justify herself, but Teyla cut her off. "I have known Sora for most of my life. She is trustworthy, and she surrendered to me and Carson well before we gained the upper hand."

"Aye, that she did." Carson confirmed. "I was there, too. And she did so of her own free will, without any pressure from the outside." Turning to Sora, he smiled at her. "I am Carson Beckett, by the way, Chief Medical Officer of Atlantis."

"Doctor Beckett, it is a pleasure." Sora shook his extended hand. "Sora, daughter of Tyrus, former second in command of the Genii strike force and chief infiltrator before that."

"Pleasure is mine, lass." Turning to the group, he voted for her. "I say we give her a chance. Let's see what she can do and really get to know before we make a decision."

As one, the group turned to Weir, who instead looked at Sheppard, raising an eyebrow. "I don't see what damage she could do, if we kept her around for a while."

Weir nodded, and really smiled at Sora for the first time. "In that case, allow me to be the first to welcome you on Atlantis."


	4. Chapter 4: Changes

**Chapter 4: Changes**

The storm lasted for another few hours, during which the group interrogated Sora both on her own background and on the strategic capabilities of the Genii.

In the end, Sheppard escorted Sora to a small chamber on the bottom of the central tower. "I will have a guard posted outside, in case you need anything," Sheppard told her quietly. Both knew the guard would be there in case she attempted to flee, of course, but neither of them felt the need to voice it.

The first rays of sunlight ruthlessly woke her up the next morning, despite the late night she had before. Yawning, Sora padded into the small wet cell and prepared herself for the morning. With a bit of water in her face, she finally felt awake enough to wave her hand over the crystal on the door's right. Just as it had for Major Sheppard the day before, the door slid open almost soundlessly.

"Good morning, ma'am." An Atlantean, or Tau'ri, as they had called themselves, soldier stood on the other side. "Major Sheppard instructed me to give you this, in case you wanted to change. Afterwards, we can go see what the mess hall has to offer before meeting the Major. Apparently, he wants to see what you can do."

"Thank you, soldier. Just let me go get changed."

"Airman, ma'am. We usually address people by their rank," he tapped his insignia on his shoulders, then pointed to his nametag "and family name or, if you are familiar with them, by first name. It helps ensure that everybody is aware of the proper chain of command."

Sora nodded curtly. "Of course, thank you, Airman." She stood awkwardly for a moment, before half turning. "I guess I'll change, then?"

"I'll be waiting, ma'am."

Within four hours, Atlantis had exploded with life. Scientist and military personal, wearing the same clothes she was now, walked and occasionally ran through the corridors, many of them carrying equipment or supplies or talking in hushed voices with their colleagues.

"Where are the Athosians?" Sora questioned her companion. "I was under the impression they were living here on Atlantis, as well?"

"They just recently established a new village on this planet's continent, ma'am. Only very few of them came through the gate on foot – most took jumpers directly from Manaria to the mainland, ferrying their equipment and tents back."

Surprisingly, the mess hall was almost empty. Only Sheppard and his team sat at the table closest to the serving counter, talking quietly and drinking a steaming hot beverage.

"Ah, Jones, Sora, there you are. Thank you Airman, I'll take her off your hands now." Sheppard waved them over. "Sora, help yourself to whatever catches your fancy. If you are anything like the rest of us, you'll want a cup of coffee to help you wake up." He gestured to the can standing on the table between them.

Thanking her escort again, Sora approached the table set up against the room's back wall. Most of the foot she had never seen before, and the few things she had, like the Tava beans her own people grew and ate, were cooked completely different then what she was used to.

"Confused?"

Teyla had appeared by her side. "Don't worry. My people and me had the same problem when we arrived here. For a while, the Athosians cooked some of our own foods, as well, but now that most of us are on the mainland, the rest usually don't bother. Every once in a while, the kitchen indulges us, though.

Now, are you looking for something sweat or salty?"

With the older woman's help, Sora gradually picked out a few items, before returning to the table.

"Ah, toast and orange juice – can't go wrong with that." Sheppard grinned at her. "It has the added benefit of keeping Rodney out of your hair. He's allergic." He added, seeing her questioning look while the scientists edged away.

Looking around the table, Sora realized that the three men apparently had decided on a similar meal, although they had skipped the juice and gone straight for the coffee Sheppard had praised earlier, while Teyla had chosen a variety of fruits, as well as what she had earlier called cereal.

"So, that coffee, what is it?"

Sheppard flipped one of the various cups on the table, and poured a brownish, steaming hot liquid. "It's made of a bean we grow on earth and contains caffeine, which helps your body feel awake."

Sora sniffed the cup sceptically, before taking a large gulp, grimacing as she did so. "That stuff is vile – way too bitter."

Ford laughed, and pushed a shaker towards her. "I hear you, sister. That's what sugar is for. Personally, I prefer energy drinks, but we've run out."

Seeing her inquisitive look, he added a large portion of sugar to her cup, and steered. "Energy drinks are basically water, sugar, caffeine, and a bit of flavour. It's an acquired taste, for sure, but better then this stuff for when you really have to be awake."

Sora listened quietly to the easy going conversation of the people around her. As she finished her plate, however, Sheppard stood. "All right then, kids. Time to hit the gym."

The gym, as it turned out, was simply an almost circular room, with a set of training weapons and equipment lining the wall.

"Sora, I want you to show me what you can do." The Major was busy rolling his arms and loosening his legs. "Don't hold back, unless you can strike a crippling blow. You are free to yield at any time, of course. Other then that, anything goes. Attack when ready."

Sheppard nodded at her, and widened his stance, his hands coming up to protect his body. With one last tug on her arm, Sora lunged forward, jabbing fast for the right side of his head.

Sheppard used his arm to block, before stepping back to allow her left leg to pass unhindered.

Sora's left arm flew for his stomach, winding through his defences and glancing his body. The Major had lost his easy going grin, she noted with satisfaction, but had so far not moved to strike back.

As he danced out of the way of a follow up to the head, his right arm lashed out. Sora managed to get her left up in time, but grunted in pain when their lower arms collided. He was almost as strong as Kolya, she noted in surprise, but also fairly agile. It was a deadly combination, if he ever managed to land a solid hit.

Sora jumped forward, halving the distance between them and immediately began a fury of quick punches to abdomen and face. Just as Sheppard figured out her rhythm, and moved to block her, she swiped her leg forward and flipped the older man off his feet.

Pouncing, she placed her knee on his chest and her lower arm across his neck.

Sheppard smiled up at her. "I yield. Very good." Sheppard groaned. "I guess the women around here really kick ass. Teyla, show me what she's really got."

Sora easily caught the short stick the older woman through at her, but immediately found herself starring at the ceiling when Teyla swiped at her knees, flipping her over.

"Don't stand still; don't wait for your enemy to attack you." Teyla advised her.

From the ground, Sora kicked at the Athosian's feet, using the time when her opponent evaded to get back up.

Teyla was much faster then Major Sheppard and obviously extremely skilled in fighting with the two sticks they were using now. Proudly, Sora noticed that she managed to hold her own, though, defending successfully for several minutes and even landing a few solid blows in return.

"That's enough, I think." Sheppard interrupted their fight. "Very impressive. We will obviously have no problem in that regard."

A scatter of applause alerted Sora to their observers. A good dozen of Atlantis' military personal had gathered to watch the two native women spare.

"Ford, please escort Sora back to her room, and make sure there is somebody available to assist her." Sora snorted, and Sheppard grinned at her. "All right, post a guard outside. McKay, we are leaving in an hour. Pack your gear."

"Are you sure you will not require our assistance, Major." Teyla questioned carefully.

"I am just going because I don't trust McKay with my jumpers." Sheppard assured her. "It's just babysitting duty for the eggheads."

"Hey, I'm perfectly capable of looking after myself and flying the ship. It is thought-controlled, you know. I don't think there is actually a way to do it wrong." McKay protested.

Ford nodded her out the door, and proceeded down the hallway towards the nearest teleporter. The small chambers had amazed Sora, even though she had suspected some kind of transportation device. On the other hand, the Wraith had similar technology they used for culling, both in their ships and on their darts and the Ancients had been more advanced, still.

"Is there anything I am supposed to do now?" Sora questioned as they approached her suite.

Ford glanced over at her. "Not that I am aware of. Just do whatever you like."

Sora laughed. "While sitting in my empty room. The possibilities are amazing."

"I'll check with Sheppard and Weir to find something for you to do. Was there anything in particular you wanted to do?"

"Well," Sora thought for a moment, "Airman Jones informed me this morning that your military seemed to be organized differently from ours. So any information on that, or any cultural information on Earth, really, would be nice. Maybe something about the technology of the Ancestors, as well. Atlantis is amazing."

Ford starred at her. "Of all the things out there to do, you want to read? Really?"

"It's the quickest way to learn, and I just realized that I am behind quite a bit. Besides, I don't think you want me to walk around the city."

"I'll check with Weir," her guide finally relented, "I am not sure what you are allowed to read, yet." He paused for a moment. "I really thought you were one of us, not one of these egg-heads."

"A bit of both, Lieutenant." Sora reassured him "As an infiltrator, both can become necessary."

Half an hour later, Ford returned with a small tablet computer. "We did not really have the room to bring a library, but we have most books on file, digitally. I have a selection of Earth's greatest literature here, as well as a few reports on Wraith technology our scientist compiled. It should be enough to start you off."

Sora noted the lack of subjects she had asked for, but knew that, given the circumstances, it was already a lot. "Thank you. So, where did Sheppard and McKay head off to?"

Ford shrugged. "They found an Ancient device they hope might be useful. The area is remote, but safe, so it's mostly scientists going. As Sheppard said, he is there more as a pilot than anything else."

"And everything else is operational security, of course." Sora smiled, hoping to convey that she understood.

"Sorry."

Two days later, Sora was beginning to get bored. She had read through more works of fiction then her own people had ever produced. Her people had dedicated their entire productivity towards the destruction of the Wraith. Every once in a while, historians would pen down chronicles, but fictional work was seen as completely useless. The amount of stories these Tau'ri had produced and preserved over the centuries was astonishing, and gave Sora a great insight into their believes and values.

The Wraith manuals they had assembled, on the other hand, were a lot harder to read. For the most part, they consisted of mission reports, detailing technology the recon teams had encountered on off-world, as well as protocols of tests the scientists had later performed in Atlantis' labs. Both were full of codes, abbreviations and designations she had never heard of.

After reading hundreds of them, however, starting at the very beginning where Sheppard described a few darts which had attacked Athos, and their tactics, she realized that they probably knew even less about the enemy then she did. Even then, however, their insight into their technology and biological makeup was way more advanced then her own.

What interested Sora the most, however, where the responses detailed in the reports, and the equipment used in the tests. It gave her an important insight into the capabilities of the Tau'ri.

Even leaving her room three times a day to get something to eat at the mess hall did not brighten her day. Most of the staff seemed to be wary to even talk to her, and her escort was usually rather deadpan. She did her best to coax him to tell her about anything, and he seemed to try to be polite, but was unfortunately extremely uncommunicative. He answered her every question, but never with more then five words, one of which was always 'ma'am'.

Three days later, Sheppard appeared back at her door, moving carefully and favouring his left side.

"Oh, thank god you're back."

Sheppard raised an eyebrow and within moments, Sora understood the potential misunderstanding.

"It's just, I've been so bored around here. I'm hoping you have something, anything else planned for me."

"Come along. McKay gets you this afternoon, since you indicated some understanding of science, but for now, I want to see you with a gun. I remember Cowen said you were a marksman."

Atlantis' military personal had converted a wide corridor on the bottom level of the south peer into a giant shooting range. Sora was familiar with the idea – practising her weapons handling on stationary and moving targets, without the risk of getting shot in return. The size of the range still surprised her, though.

"There is no way this is even possible."

Sheppard glanced over at her. "What is?"

"No weapons is precise enough to actually shoot that far."

The Major glanced along the room. The furthest target, a roughly humanoid outline printed on paper, was around one hundred and fifty feet away, with nine closer ones every fifteen or so feet. Raising an eyebrow, he nodded her to the table that marked the beginning of the range, where both her pistol and a Genii rifle had been placed.

"Show me what you've got. Your goal is precision, but try to be quick about is. Three bullets per target: the first to the head, the other two to the chest. Begin with your weapon of choice."

Sora picked up the pistol and quickly ejected the magazine. Confirming the presence of the bullets, she loaded the weapon, and slid the sledge back, arming it. With both hands, she took aim, and fired at the closest target.

Years ago, she had modified her weapons, expanding the magazine from the standard nine bullets to fifteen. Even then, she barely needed a minute to hit her targets.

"Secure and holster." Sheppard ordered her.

Stepping around the table, Sheppard went to collect the sheets. "I really miss Earth, sometimes." He mused. "Usually, a place like this is equipped to deliver the targets to you. Collecting them becomes bothersome after a while."

Sora inspected her results, quite proud with her achievement. Few Genii could match hits like that, and none of them did so with a pistol.

"Perfect hits on the first target, decent enough on the second and third, but four and five are barely acceptable. We'll have to work on that. Can you hit anything further out then 75 feet? Actually, never mind, show me the large one."

Sora prepared to defend her shooting, but finally decided to simply show of, watching while Sheppard reattached the targets. "Three each, once again?"

Sheppard nodded, and watched her once again check the weapon. With fifty shots in the magazine, she fired at every target, and still had twenty left.

"Secure and holster." Sheppard ordered once again, calmly.

"Better on the closer targets, but that is hardly surprising, given the increase in size. I'd rate you acceptable up to ninety feet, but you barely hit the last target."

"There is no way to shoot better, continuously."

Sheppard glanced at her, before stepping into an adjacent room. Moments later, he reemerged, holding one of their sidearms, loading the magazine as he walked.

Without comment, he aimed at the last target, and fired five salvos of three shots, before collecting the target sheet.

"That is how your spreadsheet should look at that distance."

Sora speechlessly stared at the small dots, jumping from head to chest and back. Non of the Major's shots had missed the target, and all but one were spread in three small circles, no more then two inches in diameter, on the target's head, right shoulder, and centre of the chest. The odd one out had been fired halfway through, positioned between the shoulder and chest.

"That is impossible. There is no way this is possible."

Sheppard picked up her Genii pistol, inserted a new magazine and chambered the first round. Squeezing the trigger, he watched the round impact on the third targer, much too low and slightly off centre. Five more shots followed quickly and spread all over the dummy.

Putting the pistol down, Sheppard turned to Sora. "I have to apologize, I think. It's not your hands, but your weapon that is the problem."

Reloading his own weapon, Sheppard handed it over. "Try this one. It will take some getting used to, of course, but in the end, I think it will be well worth it."

Three hours later, Sheppard led her back to the mess hall, and Sora felt she had done good. Half way through, she had graduated from the handheld M9 to their P90 assault rifle, or sub machine gun as Sheppard called it. The Genii did not care much for classification, they had a small and a big gun, and never much need for more then that. When you met a Wraith in the field, you were usually dead regardless of your gun.

"Say, Ford, did we bring any sniper rifles?"

Ford paused, a fork with pasta hanging half way between his plate and his mouth. "Yes sir; a handful or so M40s. I wasn't aware that you were qualified."

"I'm a flyboy." Sheppard confirmed. "I did my share of ground missions, but never that. I was hoping you could at least get Sora started. Rodney gets her first, though."

At the mention of her name, Sora gave up all pretence of not eating and observed the two man carefully. "What's a sniper rifle?"

"A weapon with extreme effective distance." Ford explained. "With the right rifle, the right shooter and decent conditions, you can hit your target at a thousand yards away."

Sora's eyes bludged. "That's impossible."

"You said the same about a hundred and fifty feet earlier today." Sheppard reminded her. "So, Ford, you up for it?"

"I'm no sharpshooter, either, but I got some basic training. I'll ask around, see if we have someone more qualified while I get her started – say, day after tomorrow?" Ford turned to Sora for the last question.

"Sure, why not tomorrow, though?"

"I have babysitting duties down on the west pier. Unless the Major thinks this is more important?" Ford glanced back at his CO, hopefully.

"Sorry. Everybody has to draw the short stick, every once in a while."

"Darn."

"Why do they even need a soldier?" Sora asked. "Is Atlantis not completely under your control?"

"Parts were flooded before we arrived here, parts during the storm. Until we can re surveil the area, we play it safe. The Ancients had some nasty stuff lying around." Sheppard explained.

Sora had been looking forward to working with Rodney McKay. By all accounts, the man was unmatched when it came to scientific knowledge and technological understanding, so Sora felt confident she would learn plenty.

The moment they arrived at his lab, however, he had sent her to one of his aides, while he hurried of to some other project.

Apparently, somebody had given her testing some thought. The aid, a young woman, who, according to her nametag was called Bremer, handed her a tablet with Ancient writing, asking her to translate.

Before she could get started, however, she heard McKay's cries coming up the corridor.

"Ow...Oww. Really, do you have to?" The scientist complained. "How did you even know I was there?"

Moments later, Sheppard led his team mate in by the ear. "So, Sora, I am bringing you your tester for the day. Thank you, Doctor Bremer, but McKay insists on doing this important task personally."

Judging by his sour face, he did no such thing, but Sora was not complaining.

They started with Ancient, testing her language skills, her aptitude with their computer interface and finally asked her to understand, explain, repair and hot-wire various pieces of technology.

Sora had no problems with the first thanks to some writings they had found generations ago, and had at least some success with the second, but most of the technology escaped her completely.

She had worked with Wraith technology before, however, so when they got to the second part of their training, she did much better. In the end, she repaired a Wraith stunner, activated a door mechanism (which she still did not know how they had gotten it, or why), and linked their computer to a Wraith dart's computer.

"All right," McKay finally seemed satisfied. "Carson will confirm this using the blood he took from you, but for now, hold that." He handed her a small scanner with a dark screen. Sora looked up at him. "What should I do? Another repair job? Did we not already do Ancient?"

McKay glanced down at the display. "Focus on wanting to know where people are. Most people work better with their eyes closed."

Sora stared at him, but followed his advice, her forehead scrunched up in thought. After a few moments, McKay removed the device from her hand. "And that's a negative for ATA."

"What's ATA? What was that all about?"

"All Ancient devices are thought controlled." McKay explained. "Critical systems like Stargate operations have manual backups, but even those have to be initialized. To do that, you need a gene, which we call ATA – Ancient Technology Activation."

"All right," Sora nodded. "So, what's a gene?"

McKay laughed. "Boy, your people really worked single-mindedly, eh? Genes are your body's memory, markers, that define how your body is build. You have genes that define eye and hair colour, how thick your lips are, if you die of a heart disease by age forty, and so on. You get half of yours from your father and half from your mother."

"So, how come your mother had the gene to activate the technology of the forefathers?"

McKay shrugged. "My mother did not. I don't have it, either. Sheppard's might have, or his dad, or its a random occurence due to mutation. Earth has an unusually high accumulation of ATA genes, compared to other planets in our galaxy and this one, so we have theorized that at least some of them have been passed down when the Ancestors returned from Atlantis."

"What do you mean, they returned from Atlantis?"

McKay frowned at her. "Look, if you have questions about their technology, I am your man, even though I have better things to do. But for history, there are better sources."

Sora shrugged. "I'm not sure I am allowed these. Somebody is quite heavy on operational security."

McKay shrugged, turned and left, before returning after a few seconds. "Well, aren't you coming? It's time for dinner, and Sheppard will be eager to know about our findings today. We can ask him, then, too, since it is ultimately his decision."

Sora hurried after him. "Is Doctor Weir not in command of this facility?"

"Sheppard decided all military matters. Counter espionage is part of that."

"Counter espionage? You still think I am here to spy on you?"

"Spies on Earth have spent years undercover, waiting for the chance to make a difference. Barely a week is nothing."

As it turned out, Sheppard did not object, as long as any information passed on were strictly concerning historical data. As a result, Sora sat quietly in her quatres the next day, when the city suddenly went into lockdown.

"May I have everyone's attention please? We have run into a questionable medical situation and at Doctor Beckett's suggestion we have decided to put the city into a self-regulated quarantine. For at least the next couple of hours, I need everyone to stay where they are, and report anyone moving freely through the halls. I hope you'll understand. Thank you. "

Her door opened, and her guard stepped inside. "Ma'am. I hope you don't mind we'll be sharing the room for the next few hours. Per protocol, hallways are off limits."

Sora smiled reassuringly and put her book down. "Not at all, Airman Jones. What is mine is yours. Please, take a seat."

Her new companion remained standing. Sora smiled at him amusedly. "Or stand, if you prefer. I'd offer you something to drink, but I'm afraid I don't have anything here."

"That's ok, ma'am." He paused for a moment. "I'm not thirsty, anyways."

"You know, I think that's the first time you broke through the 5 word barrier with me."

"Sorry, ma'am."

Sora waved him off. Just then, the intercom crackled to life once again. "All security personal in central tower, report."

Her guard touched his ear. "Jones reporting in. I'm in the guest quarters with Sora." He paused for a few minutes.

"Yes ma'am. Will do ma'am."

Turning to Sora, he handed her his earpiece. "Put this in your ear. There is a situation. I've been ordered to fall back to Stargate operations, to assist with security there. If you need anything, touch this, any you will be connected to a technician or supervisor manning operations."

Sora nodded. "What about the quarantine. Shouldn't you remain here?"

"If whatever it was has gotten here, chances are it is in operations, as well. It was deemed an acceptable risk. The guards up there have to be rotated out and now, this thing has not had time to spread."

For the next hour, Sora tried to get back into her reading, rewatching the recording of the hologram explaining Ancient history and reading the findings and comments of the Tau'ri.

Most of her attention, however, was on the near constant chatter of security personal in her ear. Either Jones trusted her more then she had suspected, or, which Sora found more likely, given his respect for the chain of command, he had simply forgotten to tune his radio into a low priority, low security channel.

An hour after Jones had left, Doctor Weir's voice came over the city wide intercome. "Peterson? This is Elizabeth Weir. Can you hear me? I can't imagine how frightening this whole ordeal must be, but Doctor Beckett has reached the rest of your team and begun to treat them. Now, I think the best thing for you to do is to head back. If Beckett gives you a clean bill of health, we'll make sure you get back to the city as soon as possible."

She switched to the private radio. "All security personal, Peterson is still moving towards the central power. If you see him, stop him."

"Someone has to do something." Sheppard complained, using the same method.

"We are doing something. Grodin's working on a plan to limit the door controls ..."

"That's not good enough. Someone has to go out there and stop him. Teyla and I are ready."

"Major, we've been ... "

Sheppard interrupted her. "Peterson obviously isn't thinking straight and he's endangering the entire population of the city."

"We don't yet know the nature of the virus we're dealing with. This is still a medical situation."

"Oh, we don't have time for this. I'm heading out."

Apparently, Weir prevented that.

"What the hell is this?" Sheppard complained. "You said so yourself - you are the ranking military officer. I can't chance you getting infected."

"I can't chance you getting infected. Bates?"

Sora closed her eyes, before coming to a decision. Touching her finger to the radio, as she had seen Atlantis' personal do countless times before, she found a small button and pressed it. "This is Sora. I am at the foot of the central tower - should he not be coming right by me?"

Sora could hear Weir shuffling, probably trying to establish how she suddenly had access to this conversation. "I've been listening in all day." Sora confessed.

"Who gave you..." Weir cut Sheppard off.

"We'll discuss security concerns later, Major. Your room is sealed, Sora, so you should be safe, or at least as safe as anybody else in the city."

"You misunderstood, ma'am. I can intercept Peterson and keep him here or turn him away. Either way, he won't get closer to you."

"I can't ask you to do that."

"You're not, ma'am. I am offering."

"We won't be able to get you any protective gear in time. You will be completely exposed to whatever Peterson is carrying."

"So will you, when he reaches the city."

Weir stopped, and Sheppard took over. "By law, neither of us can order, or even imply to order you to a mission in which death is assured."

"I understand. Can you open the door?"

"No." Weir answered. "I will not break quarantine."

Sora nodded, well aware that nobody could see her. With her bread knife, she pried open the casing of the door controls, before short-circuiting the two upper crystals with the bottom one. McKay had shown her how just the day before.

With a click, the door unlocked and Sora pressed her body against one side to open it. A few seconds later, she managed to squeeze through, stepping into the hallway outside.

She touched her radio again. "When does he get here."

"He has another two doors to get through. Judging by his speed so far, you have another fifteen minutes or so."

Apparently, Peterson had been motivated, either driven by the daemons behind him or pulled by the sanctuary before him. Ten minutes later, Sora could see his shadow creeping up the hallway.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to continue further, Doctor Peterson."

The figure stopped, and Sora stepped out of the shadow. For a moment, she could see the man's muscles tense. "I am a fully trained soldier, Doctor. I am faster then you are."

He took two steps backwards. Sora followed.

"How about the two of us just return the way you came, so we can support the others in finding a solution? You are here for your mind, are you not?"

"I'm an engineer." Peterson snapped. "There's nothing I could do to help against an infection, even if I were down there."

"I still have to ask you to return, doctor. Doctor Weir has quarantined the city."

Peterson's eyes darted across the hallway. "I'm not going back there."

Sora read his intent the moment he came to a decision. With a single step, she put herself between him and the exit behind her, determined not to give him the chance to manually open the door.

She grunted as his larger body impacted in her own. For a moment, the man froze, shocked that his lunge was intercepted and Sora used the time to deliver a light stab to his abdomen. Shocked, Peterson stepped back, only to try again on the other side.

Again, Sora intercepted. "Please, Doctor, I don't want to hurt you."

As if inspired, the scientist swung at her wildly, hitting Sora on the side of her head and leaving her momentarily dazed. While he had no formal training, he still towered over the petite woman.

Lashing out with her foot, she just reached the man at the edge of her range, clipping his foot and causing him to stumble. "Doctor! Stop!"

He swung at her again, but this time, Sora was ready. Bouncing on her feet, she ducked under the swing and circled around him. Now between him and the door, once again, she began to throw a series of fast punches, pulling them just enough not to seriously hurt him. With each punch, Peterson took a step back to evade.

"We don't have to do this, doctor." Sora could feel her arms beginning to tire. "We just stay here and close the door behind us until this is all over."

"They'll send me back." Peterson was clearly desperate. "I can't." He accepted her punch, and threw one of his own that connected with Sora's midsection. She grunted in pain.

"Sora." Major Sheppard's voice came from the small radio still in her ear. "Give him a good whack over the head. Knock him out. We'll deal with him once this is over."

With two steps, she closed in on him, using his own body to hinder his movement. With one leg behind his, she pushed him back and down to the ground.

"I'm really sorry, Doctor."

For the first time, she lashed at his head, putting her weight behind it. As her fist connected with the side of his head, it snapped back. He struggled for a few more moments, but finally lost consciousness.

Immediately, Sora felt for his pulse and checked for any visible wounds.

"Major," Sora reported, bringing her hand up to her ear. "Peterson is out. I'll secure him. After that, should I move him back down or keep him here?"

Sheppard hesitated for a moment. "Good job. Keep him there, if you don't mind. I doubt he would be an asset down there, and, if you are really not infected yet, there is no need to expose you. Teyla and me have received our hazmat suits, so we are semi-mobile, if you need us."

"Understood."

It took Sora ten minutes to pull the larger body into her room, and another five to find something suitable to tie him up. After that, she sat in silence for another two hours listening as the McKay desperately tried to solve the problem.

Nano technology was so far beyond the Genii, very few of their scientists even had theorized about its uses. To create a weapon that specific would usually have seemed amazing to her. At that time, however, it was horrifying.

Doctor Peterson awakened half an hour after she had him tied up. He struggled against the bonds for a few minutes, before starting to plead with her. When he started to cry, Sora finally shut the book she had been attempting to read and sat down next to him on the floor.

"They are getting behind the whole thing, Doctor." Sora smiled at him. "Doctor McKay has identified a nano virus. Right now, they are trying to disable it. Major Sheppard is on his way to McKay's lab to disable them."

Peterson finally quieted down, and glanced at Sora. "How do you know?"

She turned her head, showing him the device in her ear. "Airman Jones left me his radio, so I would be able to call for help. I've been listening in."

"So, what kind of nano virus are we talking about?" Peterson seemed curious now. "I mean, who built it, and what is it supposed to do?"

Sora shrugged. "I am hardly an expert in the area, and McKay himself is not that sure, from what I could gather, but it seems its only function is to kill humans. People with the ATA gene are effected, but do not die. However, neither the Wraith nor the Ancestors would ever deploy such a weapon, so McKay is unsure. Perhaps you can work on that, once Sheppard clears us to leave."

Peterson laughed bitterly. "Of course, I was supposed to get my ATA gene next week. You really think they will manage? I mean, you said it yourself, McKay does not really understand it much, yet."

"Apparently, an EM Pulse should still disable it. Get the gene, how?"

"Beckett developed some kind of treatment, that sometimes works. The EMP might actually work, and Atlantis' technology is shielded against it."

"What about ours, then?" Sora asked. "Won't they be affected?"

Peterson shrugged. "We have to shut them down, unless they are shielded like our radios."

"What about the stuff in the labs, then. Due to the quarantine, nobody can get to them, right?"

"Protocol dictates that all non-essential systems are shutdown when unsupervised, just in case of something like that. Essential systems are hooked to the mainframe, so we can shut them down remotely."

"You know a lot about that stuff." Sora was trying to keep the scientist talking.

"Just what I need for my work. Everything else is just common knowledge."

"What do you do, exactly, then?" In her ear, Sora could hear Sheppard activating the EMP.

"I interface our technology with that of the Lanteans. Doctor McKay tries to get as far as he can using what they left us, and then I take over and utilize our equipment to crack away the rest. I'm responsible for decrypting the database, as well."

Sora closed her eyes when McKay confirmed the failure, but otherwise took great care not to alert Peterson. She then listened breathlessly while Sheppard created a nuclear bomb and loaded it onto their jumper.

"What is it? What is happening?" Sora jumped when she heard Peterson speak up.

"The EMP failed. McKay suspected it did not reach the outskirts of the city, so Sheppard plans to overload one of your reactors."

Peterson nodded. "It would be a few magnitudes more powerful, but of course, it would also have to be detonated on the edge of the atmosphere."

Moments later, a flash of binding light illuminated the otherwise dark room. Both occupants fell silent as they listened for any sign of success. Eventually, the city's main lights came back on.

"This is Doctor Weir. As you know, Doctor McKay's team encountered an unknown nano virus earlier today. Thanks to Major Sheppard, we have weathered the storm. Unfortunately, four of us did not make it. Doctors Wagner, Johnson, Dumais and Hays have become valued colleagues and friends. Even with their loss, we can not allow the events of today to slow our path or weaken our resolve. The people of this galaxy and ours depend on us to protect them."

Sora closed her eyes. From what she had seen so far, four lives were four more then the expedition could afford to loose. After all, they had a small and limited supply of experienced and able scientists. The people of this galaxy could potentially be called on to fight, but teaching science on the level required was impossible, given the small time frame.

"Sora," Sheppard's voice came over her earpiece. "please take Peterson and report to the control room."

Upstairs, Sheppard was waiting for her by the door and immediately ushered her into the conference room. Doctor Weir joined them a few seconds later.

"Sora, Doctor Peterson, thank you for coming."

Peterson starred down at the table, twisting his hands nervously while Sora smiled in return. "Doctor, let's start with you."

Peterson jumped. "Doctor, Major, I am so sorry. I wasn't thinking. I just panicked. When Wagner and Johnson died and McKay did not have a clue what was going on, I just had to run. Looking back, I should have stayed, but that thought never even crossed my mind down there."

"You're rambling, Doctor." Weir stopped him gently. "Perhaps you let us say our part, and then you can comment on that?"

Peterson stopped, and Sora could see a faint red tinge on his cheeks.

"While the handling of events earlier today was semiperfect at best, you were under the effects of a nano virus with unknown origin. We suspect, however, that it was designed as a weapon, intended to cause as much panic as possible. You have never been exposed to such a situation, and have no training of any kind."

Peterson froze and looked up. "So, what happens to me now?"

"Back home, I would recommend your transfer to a safer facility, but we do not have this luxury here. I can't even guarantee that you will not get in a situation like this before. Your reaction to the virus was unusually strong, so for the moment, you will not be joining any missions, either off-world or into unsecured parts of the city. Aside from that, you will continue on as usual." Sheppard explained.

Peterson nodded. "Doctor, Major, I won't let you down."

"Take the day off, if you want, doctor." Weir said. "And report back to work tomorrow."

"Actually, ma'am, I am kind of anxious to get a look at that virus. See what got me into this trouble."

Weir smiled. "Glad to see you haven't lost your spirit, doctor. Report to Carson. Once he clears you, you are free to do as you like."

"I had a good moral coach." Peterson smiled at Sora before turning and leaving the room.

"He seems like an eager scientists." Sora commented.

Weir nodded. "And one hell of a polo player, if his file is anything to go by."

"It's a sport on Earth," Sheppard added, seeing her confused look.

Sheppard and Weir each pulled out a chair and sat down opposite of her.

"In the past few hours, you have gone beyond any obligation or duty you could have ever had to us." Sheppard began. "You risked your life and you are only standing here due to sheer dumb luck."

"You had too much at stake not to find a solution." Sora argued.

Weir smiled thinly. "Unfortunately, life isn't always fair like this. As Major Sheppard said, we got incredibly lucky."

Sora stood. "All right. I suspect you will be quite busy for the next while, though, so I will get back down to my room and wait for Airman Jones to show back up. I think he is finally warming up to me."

"You'll have to continue that on your own time, I'm afraid." Sheppard grinned. "Jones won't be coming back."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen?"

"No," Weir's smile reassured Sora more then Sheppard's answer. "As of this moment, you have full access to all public areas of Atlantis. Critical areas, including this control room, are marked off and only to be accessed by essential personal. I have also updated your account in our network. You have full access to our database, so feel free to explore and read up on whatever you like."

Sora sat in stunned silence for almost a minute. "I don't know what to say. Thank you. Any chance I get to go out with you any time soon? Join an off-world team?"

"Kick some Wraith ass?" Sheppard laughed. "I can understand you, certainly, but let's finish your training first, all right? Hopefully, Ford will still be up for you tomorrow. Until then, enjoy your freedom."

Sora stood. "All right, thank you, sir, ma'am. Good night."


	5. Chapter 5: Advantages

**Chapter 5: Advantages**

"Welcome to the probably most unremarkable room in Atlantis." Ford swept his arms in a wide circle around him. Sora allowed her eyes to sweep the room one more time, but finally had to admit the Lieutenant was right. For the city of the Ancestors, the maintainance corridor was frustratingly plain.

It was long, however. Longer than any other room she had seen so far, and perfectly straight, with targets placed a hundred yards away, half way down her line of sight, and at the very end."

"According to McKay, this hallway is used to maintain the stardrive underneath the west pier, connecting it directly to the control tower in one straight line. He sealed all doors for us, so nobody should be banging in from the sites. Eventually, we are going to go outside, but for now, you'll get to train without wind. From nine till five, unless I am away on a mission, we will be down here."

Sora glanced over at him. "Wind? Are bullets not much too fast to be affected by wind?"

"You will find that sniping is a lot different from shooting short range. Most sniper newbies are surprised how much math is involved, but fortunately for us, McKay assured me you won't have a problem with that."

Sora smiled in return. "Why math?"

Ford put his case down and unpacked a small booklet. "The M40A3 has a muzzle velocity of 2550 feet per second, or 777 meter per second. That means, that just due to gravity, a bullet will drop over one meter before hitting a target 1000 meters away, at the edge of its effective range."

"Always depending on the gravity of the planet, of course." Sora threw in. Ford glanced at her, thought for a moment, and finally nodded. "A larger gravitational pull means a larger drop. Fortunately, the Lanteans terraformed most planets to similar conditions."

"So, the velocity also means the bullet won't hit instantly. The target has time to move out of the way." Sora concluded.

"Yes," Ford confirmed. "just over one second. That's your second problem. The third is the wind, of course, which can randomly increase and decrease. You will have to guess how your target moves and how the wind changes. At least the bullet is faster then the speed of sound, and the M40 has no visible muzzle flash, so you won't accidentally alert your target, unless the sun reflects from your scope."

As on the shooting range, somebody had put up a small table, on which Ford now placed the case he had brought. "There are countless of different rifles on Earth, but we only brought this one kind."

For the next hour, Ford showed her how to assemble the weapon and had her train in doing so faster and faster, and ultimately blindfolded. "You won't always have the luxury of light. There are scopes which can help you aim in the dark, or your target is illuminated, but you have to remain out of sight. At times, that means you lie motionless for hours at a time."

"Lie?" Sora questioned. "Won't I be vulnerable to attack?"

"Usually, you will be far enough away that nobody even knows you are there. Theoretically, it is possible to fire from any position, but you will loose precision in the process. Anyways, your magazine has five bullets. You insert it here, beneath the rifle, and then load the first bullet into the chamber." Ford demonstrated the procedure as he explained.

He unfolded a blanket, spread it on the ground and laid the rifle onto it, before motioning for her to lay down next to it.

"Press the stock against your shoulder. The sight on top has two small wheels to adjust its aim, but for now, don't mind them. Place one eye on the scope, close the other one, and fix the small cross over the first target."

Ford paused for a few moments and allowed Sora to follow his instructions. "When you have aimed properly, take a deep breath, hold it, adjust your aim once again, release your breath and then gently squeeze your trigger."

He handed her a pair of earplugs. "The weapon is loud, especially if your ear is right next to it. Give it a try, just a single shot to the closest target." He inserted a pair of earplugs of his own and watched her expectantly.

Sora gave thumbs up and followed his instructions. As she pulled the trigger, she happily saw the bullet hit just under an inch off centre. She stood and removed her earplugs.

"If my trainer could see you right now, he would fail you." Ford admonished her. "On this distance, you have to hit dead centre, or you will miss by inches on the long distances, so you have no right to be satisfied."

Sora glanced at her hit, then at the last target in the hall, before looking back at her trainer. "That, however, is simply routine . You pulled the trigger and thereby jerked the gun slightly off. Squeeze it. Control the whole motion." Sora nodded, showing her understanding. "More importantly, however, you left your weapon unsecured. When you are not firing, eject the bullet from the chamber."

Sheepishly, Sora reached down and did as told.

"Good."

As Ford had promised, Sora spent the next few days on her belly, firing dozens of rounds into targets all over the hall. Surprisingly, she seldomly actually shot her weapon. Usually, Ford was happy just having her lining carefully, making her calculations and having her adjust the scope accordingly.

"We brought a lot of bullets," he explained when she asked him about his methods. "but we can't make any more. In the end, you have to actually shoot to learn, but every shot you fire at a dummy is a shot you can't fire at the Wraith."

They remained in their little corridor for one week, with two interruptions when Ford had to go out on missions. Once, they had brought back some alien woman, but Sora never met her and Ford had quickly been able to return to their training. Apparently, the Major wanted to handle the situation himself.

Eventually Ford and Sora had returned most of their targets to the official range, installed one outside on the south pier and raised a US flag on the highest outermost building on the south-east pier and a Scottish one on the south-west pier.

"Observe the flags. They give you your first clue about the wind. Usually, you would use plants, clothes or anything loose that flutters in the wind. Atlantis is pretty solid on the outside, so you get some extra help." Ford instructed her.

"Can't I simply use this?" Sora held up the small sensor Ford had given her earlier. "You said it measures the wind velocity, right?"

"It does, at the point where you are." Ford agreed. "But the wind can change. Your bullet passes through a valley or between two buildings and it will be thrown off course. You have to figure that in."

For the first few days, Ford had Sora find the perfect vantage spot, depending on the position of the target, the daily wind conditions and the need to stay hidden.

"In an open battle, nobody cares about the lone sniper sitting out in the open. Find some shelter against enemy bullets, but don't worry too much about staying hidden. They usually have better things to do than picking you off," he explained.

Ford had two more missions that week, one of which resulted in some excitement around Atlantis when they found a time-travelling Doctor Weir hidden away in a stasis pot in the bowls of the city.

Sora had spent a few evenings browsing the topic on her tablet, enjoying her complete access to the database and even quizzed McKay on it in the mensa, once. In the end, she had to acknowledge that practical time-travel was still out of her league. Unfortunately, she would not be jumping around history any time soon.

On the fifth day outdoors, Ford had Sora finally simply firing bullets, hitting their target from different distances and angles, trying out different positions and factoring in a lower nuzzle speed due to a silencer.

"All right, I guess this is it. What do you say, Major?"

Sora turned and for the first time realized Atlantis' commanding officer had joined them out in the open.

"Sir," she snapped a salute. "Sorry, I did not realize you were there."

"Which is why you would need a spotter in the field." Ford reminded her. "During your shot, you are absolutely focused."

"Very impressive progress, you two." Sheppard praised them. "When I wanted you to start this, I had hoped to get a somewhat acceptable shooter in a few months. This is extremely impressive. Sora, did you give any thought to how you want to make yourself useful?"

Sora shrugged. "With the Genii, I usually gathered information, either directly or by cultivating informants off-world."

Sheppard frowned. "We are not really that big on secret missions, unless of course you want to undermine the Wraith. Tough crowd to fit in with, though. Even if we had a use for that talent, there is nobody trained to accompany you on this mission."

"I usually work alone, anyways." Sora waved her hand dismissively.

"Unacceptable," Sheppard decided immediately. "Somebody has to have your back, just in case something goes wrong. I won't risk any of my people if I can avoid it."

"So, what do you propose?"

"Any teams with empty spots left?" Sheppard asked Ford.

The Lieutenant thought for a moment. "The Athosians filled up all the spots left, serving as guides and ambassadors to this galaxy. Sorry."

Sheppard nodded and glanced at her. "So, any ideas?"

"Just tell me what you need to know, how to contact you, and sent me out there."

Sheppard snorted. "We've been over that. I'll assign you to babysitting for a few days, to get you used to our procedures and protocols. Get some experience working with us, so you will be ready out in the field. Also, you'll get some good insights into Lantean technology."

As it turned out, Ford was right. There was nothing more boring then watching Atlantis' scientists poking around in laboratories and computer consoles, trying to figure out their function and activating it.

She learnt a lot, of course, since most of the scientists were happy to explain their work to a willing ear, but most of the time, she yearned for the the thrill of the hunt, the battle drums beating in her ears as she evaded sentries and eliminated guards.

Sheppard's team, whom she had spent most of her time with so far, as well as all other off world teams, had begun a big search for some Ancient artifact that the other Doctor Weir had pointed them to. Apparently, it would finally allow them to activate the majority of the city, including its mighty defences.

"Attention all personal," Doctor Weir's voice boomed over the city's speakers. "A single Wraith dart is rapidly approaching Atlantis. Without a ZPM we can not activate the shield and our only combat pilot is unreachably off world. Even then, our defences should be more then up for the task. As a precaution, I am confining all personal to their quarters, starting fifteen minutes from now. Senior and military personal report to the control room immediately to organize our defence."

Sora glanced over at her charge, a biologist working on extracting proteins from the local plant life, who immediately nodded at her. "I'll be fine. Just have to place those in the fridge, then I'll be off. Go."

Sora left the room running, rounding around two corners and entering the closest transporter. With a flash of white light, she reappeared just off the control room and sprinted inside and towards Doctor Weir and Sergeant Bates. "Reporting as ordered ma'am, sir. Where do you need me?"

Weir glanced over at Bates, who appeared stumped for a moment. "We have security teams on all generators and other critical systems. I don't think we'll need you."

Sora frowned, but ultimately turned when Weir did not disagree.

The armoury was located directly underneath the control room, easily accessible from the gate room and now secured by four marines stationed at the door. Nobody gave Sora a second glance as she hurried inside and grabbed a tac-vest, her rifle and two magazines while a dozen other marines were doing the same.

For a moment, Sora stopped when she noticed that non of them picked up the surface to air launchers Ford had once shown her on their initial tour. Then, she remembered that he had mentioned they had long since run out of missiles to shoot.

There was a small ladder going up from the jumper bay, used mainly to maintain the roof hatch. From there, a small door led to the outside, where Sora huddled against the wall for protection from the wind on top of Atlantis' highest tower.

A pair of thin gloves prevented her fingers from freezing as she assembled her weapon, checked the scope and wind and loaded her first magazine.

Three ships slowly rose from the hanger beneath her, before taking up formation and speeding away from the city over the south pier.

Sora removed her earpiece, alined her weapon and checked her scope. Thanks to its magnification, she could still make out the three allied ships as they held position well outside her range. For a moment, she wondered why they did not cloak, before realizing they wanted to catch the enemies attention and steer it away from Atlantis.

Once again, Sora confirmed the wind velocity, using both her gadget and the flags still flying over Atlantis. Apparently neither Lieutenant Ford nor Carson were eager to see their colours taken down. She knew that the dart would be flying at extreme speeds, and most likely shoot by her before she had the chance to react. Especially then, however, she felt that she had to make the most of her shooting.

Using her left eye, Sora searched the sky for any sign of the enemy while her right remained on the scope. She spotted him just as he descended behind their ships, and watched helplessly as he opened fire on his first prey.

Chambering the first round, Sora closed her left eye. At this distance, she had no trouble keeping the agile ship in her crosshair, but she knew that would change as it got closer. Unfortunately, so far, it was still well out of her range.

Helplessly, she watched as the lead jumper exploded in an impressive firework, causing its two wingman to veer off course and thereby allowing the Wraith to pass unopposed.

Atlantis' piers extended a kilometre and a half into the ocean, so Sora could only watch as the fighter dipped over the city's borders and sunk in between the buildings.

From her vantage point on the highest tower, Sora could still see him, speeding towards the central tower and her, sitting on top of it.

"Come on, just a bit closer." Sora mumbled to herself.

The dart slowed down and activated its beam weapon two thirds of the way down the pier. One kilometres was just the edge of her effective range, Sora knew, but she did not have the practise to make the shot comfortably.

She waited one more seconds before exhaling, just as Ford had shown her. Squeezing the trigger, she felt the weapon rocket against her shoulder, the gunpowder exploding with a deafening crack.

Sora loaded a new bullet before checking on her target. The dart flew completely uneffected, swaying between Atlantis' high risers. She reaimed, adjusted her scope for a few degrees and squeezed again. The rifled jumped and the barrel cracked, but once again, she did not hit.

Sora loaded anew, just as the dart switched off his beam and pulled up sharply. She squeezed again, and this time, the bullet hit, drilling into the left wing and exploding out the opposite side.

The dart dipped over the wing and decelerated rapidly while falling down. Half a second later, a yellow streak of light from one of the following jumper smashed into it and destroyed it completely.

Satisfied, Sora ejected the magazine and began to pack up her rifle. Within half a minute, she was back on the ladder, climbing back down into the hangar. Already, the two remaining jumpers had returned, flying by under her and through the main doors.

She did not bother to return her rifle, but instead immediately headed for the control room.

"So, what happened out there?" Weir's voice carried through the corridor as Sora hurried back.

"I don't know, ma'am. He was just pulling up, far enough ahead of us that we could not catch up, when something exploded in his left wing. He dropped like a stone, and Beckett finally hit him with a drone."

"Why?"

Sora stepped into the room, watching Weir glance over at her military consultant. "What happened in that dart that allowed us to catch up?"

Bates shrugged, just as Sora opened her mouth to speak. "You're welcome."

Zelenka was the only one in the room who did not immediately turn to her. Instead, he continued to type away on his computer, completely focused on his task.

"You?" Bates glanced down at the case Sora was still carrying. "With a rifle, really? Nice shooting."

"I missed twice." Sora admitted with a bashful grin. "So why was it here?"

"Thank you. Well done." Weir smiled at her. "It scanned us, and probably wanted to carry that information back to the Wraith. He did not get that chance, though."

"That doesn't make sense." Bates frowned. "We were in weapons range, but the buildings blocked our shot. The moment he pulled out, we would have had him."

"It did transmit information." Zelenka joined the conversation. "He started transmitting about half way through the scanning."

Weir stepped over to his console. "Do we know what he sent?"

"I have the data," the scientists gestured to his monitor, "but it will take a while to decrypt and translate."

"We need to know what they know." Bates argued. "Any way you can speed this up?"

Zelenka shrugged. "Not that I know of. What I can tell you, though, is that he did not finish." He pointed at a passage on the screen. "The transmission cuts abruptly, without any checksum or headers."

"It's something, at least. Good job, all of you."

"Do we know if and what he dropped?" All eyes turned to Sora.

"Dropped?" Weir questioned.

"With the beam, you know. Like how they pull people up, but in reverse. They use it to deploy troops during actual skirmishes, as well."

Weir glanced at her two senior staffers. "Do we know about this?"

"We do now." Bates was already checking his weapon. "Is non-essential personal still confined to living quatres? I don't want them getting in the way. We'll need life-signs-detectors." He tapped his intercom. "All security teams report to the control room, immediately."

"What are we looking at here?" Weir questioned Sora.

She shrugged. "I've seen them deploy troops and equipment. So anything from nothing, to a group of five or a bomb. Should Major Sheppard not be informed about this?"

"He is off-world and out of radio contact. I tried earlier, but apparently their dig on Dagan brought them further away from the gate then anticipated."

Sora perked up. "Dagan? They are looking for the artifact of the brotherhood of the fifteen?"

"You know of it?"

Sora nodded gravely. "I was responsible for converting elements of the new leadership to the Genii cause and for supplying the planet with Genii weapons. We have to warn them now, or maybe even run a rescue mission."

"How many men can you spare?" Weir asked Sergent Bates.

"None. If it is a device, we must find it as soon as possible, but we can simply trace the path of the dart across the city. But if Wraith beamed in, they could be anywhere by now."

Zelenka perked up. "I might be able to help with that. The city has internal sensors, but they use up a lot of our power. Therefore, we have limited the search to the gateroom."

"Expand it. Bates, you'll have to spare a team. Sora, you know Dagan best. Get our people back here as soon as possible."

Sora saluted. "Yes ma'am. I'll need a pilot, too. If there is a Genii force on the planet, I want the surprise and firepower of a jumper backing us up."

"Agreed." Weir nodded. "Lieutenant Miller is with Recon six, right?"

"Yes ma'am." Bates confirmed before activating his radio again. "AR-6 to the hangar bay for off-world SAR."

"You have a green light as soon as your team is ready." Weir told Sora. "Godspeed."

With a last salute, Sora hurried out the door, and headed down into the armoury to switch her rifle for a P90 and a side arm, as well as grab a better vest.

The moment the MALP cleared the other side, the jumper shot forward and cloaked on the other side before coming to a complete stop.

"Any way we can find out where they are?" Sora questioned the pilot.

In response, a map sprung up on the windshield, littered with red dots. "The Ancients were pretty good at localizing life forms, but without a permanent sensor array, we can not differentiate. Even then, the Dagan's are just as human as our people are."

Sora pointed at the map. "That's the main city here. If they went on a dig, they most likely left. Can you widen the scale?"

The map zoomed out and Sora took a moment to study it. "I know these villages here, here and here. Sheppard wanted to dig north, so lets fly this way."

"Ma'am." The pilot interrupted her thoughts as the ship accelerated gently. "What about this group, here." The screen zoomed in on a group half a klick north of the city.

"They would still be in range of the gate." Sora answered, before stopping. "Zoom in further."

Sora studied the map a few moments longer before noticing another group moving towards the first. "Get us there, now!"

The jumper shuddered as the inertia dampeners strained against the rapid acceleration. "Ma'am?"

"It's an ambush formation. Major Sheppard and his team are about to walk into a Genii trap. Take us as close as possible, then allow us to get out. You stay in the jumper to provide air support."

"Yes ma'am."

"Captain Chen," Sora turned to AR-6's team leader. "Prepare for combat, fan out around the ambush, open fire on my command if Sheppard gets into trouble."

"Yes ma'am," the chinese born commander acknowledged. "Lock and load, people."

"Miller," Sora turned back to the pilot. "What is our arrival time, compared to that of Sheppard's?"

"We'll get there at the same time, ma'am."

Sora activated her radio. "Major Sheppard, this is Atlantis, come in."

"Your call-sign for this mission would be Alfa-Romeo-Six leader, ma'am." Miller corrected her.

"I know, but if their radio has been compromised, they won't know that backup is already through the gate. Why is he not answering? It's unlikely that all their radios broke at the same time."

"They might have been captured, already." Chen suggested. "AR-6 is ready for combat, ma'am."

"Why the ambush then; it doesn't make sense." Sora mumbled, before perking up. "We'll find out in a few seconds."

"Approaching landing site." Miller reported. "The enemy is directly in front of you, Sheppard is already in the trap."

Sora gripped her P90. "Captain, I'll be looking for a good vantage spot. Lead your men in for close combat."

"Yes ma'am."

The jumper's rear hatch hissed open and Sora and her team jumped out. Immediately, AR-6 fanned out, keeping about five metres between them. Meanwhile, Sora sprinted onto the next elevation and peered down her scope

She could see three turned backs about fifteen meters in front of her. Sheppard and his team were another five ahead of them, with their weapons lowered and furiously debating with the leader and surrounded by another twenty or so men. Surprised, Sora noted through her scope that the woman was not a Genii, but a local leader, Allina.

"Sheppard, come in." Sora tried her radio again. "Sheppard, anybody, can you here me?"

Sheppard did not react in any way. "Sheppard. We are on your six. If you can hear me, shuffle your right foot."

The foot remained completely unmoving.

"Chen, Miller what is your status?"

"Ready for action, ma'am." "In position."

Sora paused for a moment. She did not want to give away their presence, but needed to alert Sheppard to their presence.

Smiling, she remembered the small laser attatched to her sub-machinegun. When she had first found it, Ford had explained to her that it helped with aiming when you did not have time to aim properly. On a long-range rifle, it was useless, of course, since a straight light beam did not account for the drop due to gravity.

Flicking the switch, she activated the device and watched the green dot appear on Allina's chest. She kept it on just long enough for Sheppard to notice, before switching it back off. Hopefully, the rather primitive people of Dagan would mistake it for a simple trick of light.

Seconds later, she saw Sheppard reach for his radio. "Major, this is Sora. AR-6 and me are on your six with a jumper, ready on your mark."

Sheppard reached for his radio, and Sora almost cursed out loud. "Do not engage. Either we solve this peacefully, or we don't solve it at all."

"Major, the situation has changed. Weir ordered me to bring you back immediately."

Sheppard hesitated for a moment. "Not violently." He finally decided. "Besides, there is a good chance I'd get hit as well, so your point is moot."

This time, Sora cursed out loud as she stood up. Immediately, the three guys in front of her turned and aimed at her. She let her P90 fall into its strap and raised her hand, passed them and joined the group in the centre of the ambush.

"Sora?" Allina exclaimed as she spotted her. "Is that you? What are you doing with these people?"

"Hello Allina." Sora smiled, ignoring the startled looks on the team's face. "I'm afraid I had my eyes opened rather violently, concerning the Genii's morals and tactics."

She nodded to the crystal the older woman was clutching. "So that's the legendry treasure of the brotherhood? Interesting, should it not be glowing?"

Allina half hid the artifact behind her body. "It was given to us to protect until the Ancestors come for it, and my people will fullfil their duty."

"These people live in Atlantis. I have been there myself - it is as magnificent as the stories say."

Allina frowned. "You talk sweetly, Sora Tyrus, but we know that they are not the Ancestors. Rodney admitted to me that they just came there months ago."

Sora raised an eyebrow. "Do you really think the Ancestors stayed in Atlantis all these years? Or do you think they are millions of years old?"

"What are you implying?" Allina questioned angrily.

"Atlantis contains the history of the Ancestors, and these people have discovered more of it than anyone before." Sora explained. "Do you know why nobody could ever get to Atlantis, but these people managed to get there?"

"They are obviously more advanced then we are." Allina dismissed.

"Because the Ancestors left themselves a way back, if they ever wanted to return. They went to Earth when they abandoned Atlantis, to the place they originally came from, and rejoined their children there."

"You have no proof of that." Allina spat.

"Not here." Sora agreed. "Come back with us, and we can show you a recording of an Ancestor, who explains it to you."

"So you can overpower me there, and take the artifact for yourself? No thank you."

"Leave it here, then." Sora smiled. "You can trust one of your people to take care of it, right?"

"This is how it must be, Sora. We can not know their plan."

"I am of this galaxy, as well, Allina. It was I who told you most of what you know about the Ancestors. And yet, I am standing here, convinced that these people are the closest thing to the Ancestors we will ever find."

"The Ancestors had powers beyond our understanding."

"Like flying or becoming invisible?" Sora reached for her radio. "Miller, decloak."

As Allina and everybody else starred at the jumper, Sora continued. "Only the children of the Ancestors can use their technology. You know how rare these people are, yet there are hundreds of them on Earth."

Seeing the other woman hesitate, Sora went in for the kill. "If nothing else, then know that, without this, Atlantis is going to be destroyed by the Wraith. I am here because a Wraith fighter attacked us today. We lost good men, and one of our ships, but there will be more coming - countless more."

The four members of AR-1 started speaking at once, but Sora raised her hand. "Later. Allina, please."

Slowly, the woman handed over her treasure. "You are sure this will safe the city of the Ancestors?"

Sora turned to McKay. "What is it, by the way?"

"A ZPM draws energy from a artificially constructed section of subspace. We have only just begun to theorize how the Lanteans might have built them, but the most likely candidate is using a black hole to..."

"It's a power source." Sheppard interrupted the scientist. "A power source that would allow us to activate the weapons and defences of Atlantis to fight the Wraith. It will give us and everybody else a fighting chance."

Slowly, Allain finally handed over the ZPM. "Give them hell from us."

Giddily, McKay grabbed for it. "Thank you, thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."

Meanwhile, Sheppard turned to Sora. "Who?"

"Markham and Smith. A lone dart scanned us and transmitted data back. We got him half-way through, but there is no telling how much damage has been done. Bates is sweeping the city for anything out of the ordinary." Sora relayed quitely.

"Chen," she activated her radio. "Get to our position. Miller, pick us up. We are out of here as soon as we can."

"So, what happens now?" Sora finally questioned the Major.

"We'll see what the Wraith do. I imagine McKay will start glowing over the next few days, and Weir will make a really long distance call. You seemed surprised when you heard that was a ZPM."

"And how did you know it should glow?" McKay joined the conversation.

"I never saw any pictures of it." Sora explained. "Just explanations on the science. The thing is, I know this guy with this really cool lamp. He always boasted about the three cylindrical, glowing crystals."

AN: I was always going to end the story here. A second fully charged ZPM seems like a huge advantage and writing on would be boring (for me, at least). I'm not happy with the last dialogue, but then, I haven't really been happy since chapter two. For me, this story fulfilled it's purpose, and I am happy to get back to other projects.

Concerning this chapter: I am not a sniper. I have never even fired a gun before, so do not quote me on any of this. All I know comes from bad movies and an interest in physics. If you spot any mistakes, please let me know and I'll try to correct them.

Thank you all for sticking with me, and let me know what you think. Criticism is welcome.


End file.
